


A different don

by SeraNeko_chan



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Arcs switched around, BAMF Sawada Nana, Crossdressing, Different Guardians, Genderqueer Character, Minor Character Death, Multi, Unexpected pairings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-27 12:04:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 53,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13880496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeraNeko_chan/pseuds/SeraNeko_chan
Summary: Tsuna is done with being bullied and ask his mama to teach him. He's in for a world of change, because Nana has a few secrets of her own.Also posted on ff.net





	1. Making a change

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I thought it fitting for my first post on Ao3 to be the first story I wrote and actually posted. Don't worry, it's been rewritten since and save to read ;). I did keep much the same, including the way the chapters were structured, so I generally end up with about 2500 words a chapter.
> 
> I accept all constructive criticism, because it helps me grow personally, and me and my beta do sometimes read over things. I won't tolerate flames or people who criticize me, but can't write decent english themselves. One word people, POLITENESS. It will help you a lot to convey your annoyances to me. I'm honestly shocked at how little (read none) people said about how crappy it was the first time round. And I'm still cringing about it. Do remember, English is not my first language, and I'm far from true proficiency.
> 
> I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
> 
> Thanks to my wonderful beta: SoraKairiRikuNamine
> 
> Leave a review on your way out! Comments stimulate my muse!

The sound of a boot hitting flesh echoed through the alley. The bullies laughed at their victim as they kicked the small boy lying on the ground. Their cruelty wasn't deliberate, it was just that no adult had ever told them their treatment of the boy was wrong. No one ever stood up for Dame-Tsuna, so they continued to bully him.

It did get boring nowadays because Dame-Tsuna had learned to keep quiet despite the pain. At the start he had cried out and wept, but no one ever came to help him and egged the bullies on. Still seeing that pathetic form curled up on the ground, appealed to the boys and they kept going for the sake of it.

Dame-Tsuna was small and petite for a seven-year-old boy. He tripped over air and regularly fell down the stairs, instead of being pushed. None wanted him on their team in PE, because Tsuna wasn't able to kick a ball even if it was laying perfectly still on the ground. It didn't make Tsuna very popular with his classmates and as a result he had no friends. Teachers berated Tsuna often for being so slow and stupid and the students took that as a sign to torment the little boy for their own pleasure. They beat him, pushed him down the stairs, made him hand over his lunch or lunch money or flushed the little homework he did manage down the toilet.

Another ten minutes passed before the group finally had enough and sauntered away in search of new entertainment. Tsuna remained in his fetal position for several minutes longer, before finally standing up and gingerly dusting himself off. He had to search for his schoolbag while longer, but eventually found it in the trashcan. Thankfully, the bullies hadn't thrown it on a roof again, Tsuna didn't think he would be able to climb with his chest hurting so much.

It depressed him how used he had become to the abuse and bullying. It barely registered anymore. After all, no one cared, so why should he? When he got home, his mama would fuss about his injuries and clumsiness, but he refused to blab. He had tried to, when it all started two years ago, but the teacher hadn't believed him and the payback had been awful. So he kept his mouth shut and his mama didn't pry.

Afterwards he'd try to make sense of his homework, of the words swinging across the page, even though he knew it would be all for nought if his bullies got hold of him before class. Every night he wished that something would change. That someone would save him. He couldn't be so disappointing that only his mama loved him? Could he?

He didn't even consider the possibility that his mama might be able to do something. His mama was lovely and sweet and caring, but she wasn't strong or intimidating. The bullies would laugh her off and the teachers would smile and ignore her complaints. Every day that passed in this hell made little Tsuna despair a little more.

He stopped caring about the world and it's cruelty, depression weighing heavy on his fragile shoulders. He didn't really have any redeeming qualities. He wasn't strong or athletic, but clumsy and weak. He wasn't smart either, couldn't read very well, and was scared of the neighbour's chihuahua! Granted it was a vicious little beast, but just the sight of it was enough to send Tsuna up a roof.

Even his own father had left their little family. His mama could say all she wanted about becoming stars, but building companies didn't usually work on the South Pole! Nor in the Sahara or on the Himalayan!

The only person Tsuna looked up to was his mother. She was the perfect example of a Yamato Nadeshiko, the ideal Japanese housewife. Nana was beautiful, kind to everyone, empathic and caring. She cooked deliciously, was very adept at making clothes for herself and Tsuna and kept track of everything that needed to happen, no matter how busy she was. Tsuna identified more with his mother than his absent father, gender meant very little to him at seven and he would love to emulate her.

'Maybe', Tsuna bit his lip at the thought, 'if he became more like his mama, his bullies would stop'. No one bullied his mama or talked behind her back. Except to pity her for her no-good son and absent husband.

Deftly avoiding the spots and alleys where dogs and tugs could be found, Tsuna slowly made his way home, so he would make the pains at his chest worse. He breathed more shallowly on instinct, because deep breaths made it hurt more. By some miracle he didn't encounter anyone and wasn't forced to run.

Nana was already waiting at the door, since Tsuna was later than usual. She ran towards him as soon as he rounded the corner, hugging him as she murmured, "Oh Tsu-chan". Her tone conveyed a wealth of warmth, concern, and love. Tsuna basked in it while Nana carried him inside, at least until his chest started to hurt from the tightness of the hug.

"Mama, please put me down, it hurts."

His mother's gaze sharpened at his soft exclamation. She put him down immediately on the kitchen table and gently helped Tsuna to take off his shirt. It wasn't a pretty sight. The area around the ribs was black and blue where the boys had kicked Tsuna and Nana noticed the shallower breathing. Her nurse training, which she had abandoned when she married Iemitsu, kicked in and she gently pressed the area to determine the extent of the injury.

Fortunately Tsuna only had a lot of bruises and bruised ribs, so she took an ice pack from the freezer and wrapped it in a towel before putting it on the wound. She also got Tsuna some painkillers, before gently picking him up and carrying her little boy upstairs. How had she never noticed how light he was?

After putting a sleeping Tsuna in bed and tucking him in, Nana went downstairs and wept for several minutes. How had she not seen how bad her little, precious, baby boy had been bullied? How blind had she become since Iemitsu installed her in this nice, cosy home and had traipsed off again for _work_?

Tsuna never admitted that he was bullied, and she never asked, never pressured him into telling. It wouldn't, couldn't stand. She was done with playing nice. Those bullies would pay for harming her family, her son! When Tsuna woke up, she would have a serious talk with him. Like it or not, she would get those names out of him and then she would help her lovely child with his problems. The summer holidays would start in a week; she would keep Tsuna home, citing his injuries. That way she could shield him a little longer from his tormentors.

* * *

Tsuna woke to an aching feeling in his chest, but he didn't want to face reality (and an uncomfortable talk with his mama) just yet. So he basked in the warmth of his bed and enjoyed the feeling of hand stroking his hair. When he finally opened his eyes, his mama smiled brightly at him.

"Good morning, Tsu-chan. Have you slept well?" She inquired softly. Internally Nana was fangirling over the cute sight her baby boy made, curled up like a cat in his blankets.

He nodded, careful not to jar his chest. Still half-asleep he asked, "Can I be like you, mama?"

The hand in his hair faltered and he whined. Quickly regaining her earlier pace, his mother asked, "What exactly do you mean, Tsu-chan?"

Fully awake by now, Tsuna insisted, "I wanna be pretty like you, mama, and I wanna cook and sew like you do. I don't wanna be Dame-Tsuna anymore."

Nana smiled at her little boy, overjoyed at his request and seething on the inside at the cruel nickname. She would have twirled him around, but restrained herself with difficulty. "You make your mama extremely proud, Tsu-chan! Now mama finally has a daughter to teach all her secrets to!" She left the nickname alone, there would be time later to discuss and remedy it.

Tsuna sweat dropped (anime style) at his mother's enthusiasm. He didn't have the heart to remind her that he was in fact a boy….biologically. That and he couldn't bring himself to care. Boys were stupid.

Now let me describe Tsuna and his situation for you. I have mentioned already that he was small and petite for his age, partly due to his lunch being stolen at least once a week and missing breakfast because he overslept. Tsuna looked like a mini version of his mother with big doe like eyes full of innocence, despite his hardships, lined with long eyelashes and the fluffiest, softest hair ever. Its length enhanced the gravity defying aspect. All of this resulted in the prettiest and cutest child ever witnessed on earth.

Had Tsuna been born a girl, he would have been adored throughout Namimori. Sadly those same characteristics in a boy spelled only one thing: ideal bullying victim. However, woe to those who observed Tsuna pouting, even indirectly. The last person was diagnosed with instant diabetes and will swear to his dying day that he saw flowers blooming in the background.

Sawada Tsunayoshi ('Tsuna, please!') was seven year old and lived with his mother, Sawada Nana, in the small town Namimori. His Father, Sawada Iemitsu, works overseas for a building company…or so he claims. The latest postcard that accompanied the monthly check pictured Iemitsu in coveralls while he played with penguins. Tsuna couldn't believe his father's stupidity. Of course building companies work on the South Pole, where else should they work?

The one time Iemitsu actually came home (that Tsuna remembers), he monopolized the couch in a drunken, nearly naked stupor and had Nana running around making exotic meals. Oh and he called Tsuna Tuna-fishie before promptly ignoring him again. Tsuna doesn't care about his so-called father figure.

The man is a stranger and a rude one at that. Also, some people look down on the Sawada household, because of Iemitsu's absence, which paints an even bigger target on Tsuna's back.

His home situation made teachers look down on Tsuna and they often ignore him when he asks for help. Some especially mean teachers placed him in the back of the classroom, so he wouldn't be able to see the blackboard or even surrounded by his bullies.

So the general overview of how much Tsuna's life sucks. Now back to Nana, who was planning all the wonderful things she would be able to teach her sweet Tsu-chan. Not that Nana wasn't aware of the gender of her only child, but she knew her Tsu-chan would never be accepted as a boy. She really wasn't s ditzy as the world believed her to be, that appearance merely suited her needs for the moment.

Nana wasn't deaf to the whispers of her neighbours and acquaintances, but she couldn't do anything about them. So she kept smiling and ignoring. Just as she did when it came to her husband and his…company. Iemitsu always believed her to be a mere civilian, a waitress trying to pay for her nursing degree. She appreciated his foolishness; he gave her an escape and a beautiful baby boy. What more could she wish for?

Now onto her planning. She would need to start teaching Tsu-chan several much needed skills and find a tutor for his schooling. But first, a shopping trip! Putting Tsu-chan in girl's clothes from the start would only fuel the gossip and bullying problem. Her beautiful boy looked very androgynous, yes, but abrupt changes were not the way to go, never would be. People needed time and a subtle transition. So subtle and thorough most people wouldn't notice, even when it was too late. They'd simply…forget Tsu-chan was ever a boy at all! This required a delicate hand and touch of imagination…

But first! Tsu-chan needed his basic knife set. For cooking, and other things. Nana cackled inside, 'This is going to be so much fun!


	2. A different summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

The sunlight peeked through the small gap in the curtains and Tsuna tried to roll away from it lest it woke him at the ungodly hour of 9 o'clock. Well it was ungodly for the summer holidays. He couldn't roll far however with his ribs still hurting.

Tsuna was extremely grateful that his mother had allowed him to remain at home this last week. Confronting his bullies in this state was likely to get either him killed or them, judging by mama's cackling and dark blue aura. To him, his mama had looked like an evil overlord for the past week.

She refused to let anything slip about the lessons she was planning, but she had been shopping a lot. She had promised though that she would take him with her for the final shopping trip and to prepare for some radical changes.

Tsuna both feared and looked forward to the summer. He had asked for the change himself, but his intuition told him he might be over his head in this one. Sleep was calling though, so he snuggled deeper into his blankets. He'd worry about the lessons later…

"Tsu-chan! Rise and shine, time for breakfast!" Just as Tsuna had fallen asleep again, Nana entered his room to wake him up. She startled him so much he jumped nearly a foot in the air and subsequently fell out of bed, taking his blankets with him.

"Was that really necessary, mama?" Tsuna asked while hanging half out of his bed. His calves and feet had managed to stay in bed, but the rest of his body hung down onto the floor, intertwined with his blankets and even his pillow. He made such a cute picture, pouting up at his mother, that Nana squealed like a true fangirl.

His already fluffy hair had seemingly doubled in volume throughout the night. The short orange pyjamas emphasized his slender body and his yawning and rubbing his eyes made her want to hug the life out of him.

"Come on Tsu-chan. You need to get dressed if you want to help mama with breakfast." Leaving Tsuna alone so he could put his clothes on in private, Nana flipped through the pictures she had taken. She had gotten into the habit of carrying a camera at all times. No picture could truly capture all of Tsu-chan's cuteness, but they would make excellent bribing material.

Nana could already see the hordes of gorgeous men that would flock to Tsuna once he was old enough. Also, sending these to Iemitsu on a regular basis would keep him busy and oblivious to the changes happening in the Sawada household. She truly loved him, but he was simply too easily distracted by his cute Tsunafishie.

When Tsuna came down a couple of minutes later, he found his mama waiting with two presents on the table before her. They were wrapped in orange paper with huge, sparkly, rainbow coloured bows.

"Mama my birthday isn't till October. Why did you buy me presents?" he asked confused by the surprise.

"I've not been paying you all the attention I should have Tsuna. I should have pressed you earlier, put a stop to the harassment, but I didn't. Also, you'll need these for you new lessons, so I thought I'd make them something special," She smiled lovingly at her little boy.

Tsuna hugged his mama before he carefully opened the presents. The first gift, rectangular and squishy, contained an orange apron with a big white 27 on the front. He hugged his mama again and together they made flowers bloom in the background. Let us be thankful that the adorable family was alone, because any witness would have gotten severe diabetes by now and would have to be hospitalized for extreme blood loss via a bloody nose.

At this point both Nana and Tsuna had to wipe away some tears, as she encouraged him to open the second gift. Seeing her baby boy so happy over a mere spontaneous gift, made her swear to spoil Tsuna more often. Her acting, oblivious and naively happy, had spilled over into her private life, a damn rookie mistake. She was way out of practise and obviously needed to start up her training again.

"Mama?" Nana shook herself out of her reverie at Tsuna's sweet voice.

"Yes Tsu-chan. What is it?"

"Why did you give me a set of knives?" Tsuna's confused expression was adorable.

"These knives will your most important equipment for the rest of your life, Tsu-chan. They are a bit too big for you right now, since I bought them to grow with you. That way you will be able to use them when you have finished growing. At least if you take good care of them. I did buy a children's version as well, so you would be able to learn how to properly handle knives. Do you like them?" Nana explained patiently

"Yes, somehow they are really pretty! I promise to take very good care of them and treat them like my greatest treasure!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"Kyaaa! You really are your mother's child! Now let's start making breakfast, ne? Do you want a traditional breakfast or something special?"

"Can we make eggs and pancakes? Since it's a special occasion?" Tsuna asked. He loved Dashimaki Tamago, a rolled omelette with dashi for extra taste, and mama's pancakes were divine!

As Tsuna was only seven, Nana didn't allow him to handle the cooking just yet. Instead she helped him to prepare the ingredients and then put Tsuna on a chair next to the stove, bit far enough away, so he could watch her expertly roll the eggs and flip the pancakes.

Thus started Tsuna's introduction in the womanly arts and he took to it like fish to water. His newfound talent in cooking resulted in soulful dishes. When school started again, he used them to bribe de demon of Namimori elementary, Hibari Kyouya, to share the roof. Hibari-san was especially fond of hamburger steak and helped Tsuna with building his stamina and reflexes. Namely he attacked Tsuna at random moments, though making sure nothing vital was ever hit and no bones were broken.

Nana kept her promises and the shopping trip to replace Tsuna's wardrobe gave him very androgynous and pretty makeover. Soon the whole neighbourhood spoke well of Sawada-san and her beautiful daughter. (Such a shame that the girl had missed her father so much she chose to dress like a boy.)

They sympathized with Sawada-san, who was so very brave to bring up her child by herself, while her handsome husband worked abroad to support his little family adequately. Their beautiful and adorable child was so talented and driven; no doubt she would make a fine wife in the future.

This positive reputation change prompted play dates with the neighbour's children, who hoped to see a similar change in their own daughters and wanted some headway for their sons in the future. However no one even thought of pressuring Tsuna into anything, the pouting and wet, shimmering eyes ensured that. Instead it was more like a bragging right if Tsuna got attached to their child and asked for more play dates.

If some boys had to be hospitalized during the summer, well the youngest Hibari was known to be quite violent. Who knew what reasons he had for beating up those boys? They must have disturbed the peace somehow. The mumblings of a dark blue aura and a maniacal laugh where dismissed as hallucinations due to head trauma.

Nana hired several high-end tutors as well and they discovered that Tsuna had never even learned the basics, either having had detention or being locked up somewhere at the time of those lessons. Tsuna had to work hard to make up for everything he missed in only a month, but his tutors were patient and better teachers than Namimori could ever hope to afford.

Nana took up reading with Tsuna, discovering the world of fantasy and magic together. They especially liked the Harry Potter series, though it pained Nana a bit to see how well Tsuna identified with the abused protagonist.

Summer ended and when school began again, Tsuna got a whole new experience: being popular and actually understanding what was taught in class. The teachers treated him fairly because of his newfound knowledge and reputation. But mostly because they didn't want a repeat of those horrible visions…

Tsuna was glad with the change summer had brought and his decision to become more like his mama. It seemed like luck was finally smiling on him. The transition from boy to girl was easily made, Tsuna didn't even think twice about it. His mama only had to correct him on his pronouns in the first week, before he got the hang of it.

He had made friends with Sasagawa Kyoko and Kurokawa Hana, two very different girls who were thick as thieves regardless. Kyoko was sweet and gentle, though she had a mischievous side as well. She loved cooking and pretty clothes just as much as Tsuna did, which they bonded over.

Hana is more standoffish and very observant. She wasn't fooled by Tsuna's changes, but she and Kyoko accepted him regardless. Apparently Tsuna was one of the few boys who weren't monkeys and they liked to talk about the new stories they had read.

The trio also shared an immense love of cake. Which they curbed to once a month to prevent getting fat. Usually they went to the bakery run by a young man with silver hair to eat as much cake as they wanted every third Sunday of the month.

Kyoko's older brother, Ryohei, saw Tsuna as a second little sister to take care of and protect. Tsuna, on the other hand, helped Kyoko to redirect Ryohei's fighting spirit, so he wouldn't seek out opponents beyond his level. Let's just say that it involves a certain demon and lots of hamburger steak…

After his birthday Nana started Tsuna on certain strategy games like Go and Shogi, which he shared with his new friends. He didn't really have a knack for it, but Hana mastered both at a frightening tempo. She claimed it was less difficult than dealing with a particular obstinate Ryohei.

Nana also taught Tsuna several…unusual ways to use his new knife set. Some of which were quite unsettling to the young child. The lessons weren't very frequent yet, as Tsuna first had to master the knives in the kitchen. However between Hibari-san and his mama Tsuna obtained a very unorthodox secret skillset.

Ever the optimist, Tsuna refused to linger on this and focused on the positive points. Namely that he would be able to defend himself from all harassment; including but not limited to bullies (non-existent nowadays), dogs (rabid as always), thugs and strange men in suits with sunglasses. (NEVER go with strange men that offer candy, ESPECIALLY if the candy exists.)


	3. In for a surprise

Bianchi sighed deeply as she once again looked through the file on her lap. The contents hadn't changed since the last time she looked, but she dearly wished it had. The pink haired hitwoman both mourned and cursed the stern patriarchal nature of the mafia. Those brought up in mafia families didn't know any better. Because the men were encouraged to be as macho and testosterone overdosed as possible, and women were forced into meek submission.

Of course Bianchi knew another side of mafia history. The most successful and influential people had always been women, whether they were working from the shadows or not. Unfortunately their male successors rewrote history to suit their bruised pride and the golden age of women had long since past. It ended with Ottavo, the eight boss of the Vongola.

As firstborn Bianchi should have been the heir of her father's family. Thanks to her gender, the highest she could ever reach would be the next boss's wife. (And wife in the mafia meant being pretty, silent, and popping out babies while ignoring her husband's numerous affairs.)

Fortunately her little (illegitimate) brother protected her from any marriage contracts (sold to the highest bidder, if her father had his way) and Bianchi's own enterprising character had led to a semi-successful career in the shadows. Only those she trusted knew that Poison Scorpion was in fact a woman.

Being allied with the Vongola helped somewhat. They were a little more liberal when it came to women with real jobs, despite barring them from high posts. The only reason Ottavo had become the first female don, was the lack of other viable heirs. Well, that and the fact she had presented the establishment with a fait accompli, by taking the trials in secret, together with her guardians.

The file however detailed the life of Sawada Tsuna, daughter of the head of CEDEF, Sawada Iemitsu. The fourteen-year-old was the only living carrier of the Vongola bloodline. All three sons of the Ninth had died in an odd sequence of incidents. Not that Bianchi mourned their loss. (Idiots, the lot of them!)

The first, Enrico, the eldest and leading candidate, had been shot during a gunfight with another, feuding family. Then Massimo, second in everything, was found drowned... in his own bathtub. The remains of the last son, Federico, had been recovered mere days ago. He had been the Ninth's favourite and it had broken the old man's heart.

Nono had adopted another, Xanxus, but since he did not have the original bloodline, many doubted his suitability. (Not his character, oh no. His BLOODLINE!) The so-called wise advisors of the Vongola had therefore come up with a brilliant plan to give Xanxus the extra boost he needed: marrying him to Sawada Tsuna!

Bianchi scoffed in disgust. Xanxus was not only ten years the girl's senior, but he also was a hothead, cruel to his subordinates, and an all-around brute. From what she had gleaned from the extremely unprofessional file Iemitsu had made about his 'Tsunafishie', the girl was well on her way to become a nearly ideal woman.

Not only was she a talented cook, she could sow, garden, and keep a household. Her scorecard had been included and she had started out on the bottom tier back when she started elementary school. However her grades had suddenly risen very high the next year, putting her in the top ten of her age group and had stayed that way.

Her womanly accomplishments would make it hard for the girl to get any recognition in the mafia. Bianchi hated the task of preparing such a promising girl for a marriage that would rob her of her future plans and dreams. Unfortunately, she was in no position to refuse this mission, as the Ninth had made it clear her alliance with the Vongola depended on it.

Bianchi's gaze lingered on the mother's name, Sawada Nana, née Hakuryu. _'Where the f*** had she heard it before?'_

Not long after shaking herself from these painful musings, Bianchi arrived in Namimori. From the start, she had decided to first observe Sawada in her natural habitat. Perhaps (hopefully,) there was more to the girl than Iemitsu was aware. (Probably.) Bianchi knew she wouldn't be able to resist if there was even the smallest chance that Sawada Tsuna had the potential to become Decimo. Also, she wanted to verify Iemitsu's information. The man hadn't been home in what, nearly ten years? He hadn't even _tested_ his daughter for flame potential.

Since it was nearly noon and a school day, Bianchi decided to check out Namimori Middle, or Nami-chuu, first. On a hunch she inspected the roof first. Granted it would be an unusual place for a girl as proper and popular as Sawada looked on paper, but Bianchi had long since learned to trust her intuition.

Finding a good hiding spot with full view of the roof on an apartment building nearby, Bianchi took out her trusty binoculars and scanned the roof. The sight made Bianchi mouth fall wide open.

There on the roof was the very girl she was looking for, fighting a boy whose fighting spirit and killing intent equalled Xanxus! And, as if that was shocking enough, BOTH were fighting with their flames, Sawada's a warm orange and the unknown boy's purple.

"The actual f*ck?!" Bianchi swore out loud. 'This seals it. I'm never ever trusting Iemitsu again! His daughter has awakened her SKY flames, and all he can blabber about is how cute and adorable she is! What does that flipping idiot have instead of actual brains and who was stupid enough to make a brain-dead moron head of CEDEF! I'm going to kill him, Nono and all the fricking elders!'

Bianchi saw red. They were going to marry off a girl with the strongest sky flames Bianchi ever witnessed to a brute. All because their manly pride couldn't handle a strong female and a blind, ignorant fool providing false information. Well, Bianchi wouldn't stand for it, not while she lived and breathed!

Forcing herself to calm down, Bianchi refocused on the on-going fight. Despite the boy being way out of her league (he most certainly equalled Varia quality), Sawada held her own. Her fighting style seemed mostly comprised of dodging and dirty tricks, with some boxing moves thrown in here and there.

"Wait, what?! Did she fall on purpose so she could give him an uppercut to the balls? I like her already!'

It was a mishmash of moves and styles, but it oddly suited her. It reminded Bianchi of someone, but she couldn't think of whom or when. It was like an itch in the back of her mind.

The fight ended, and while Sawada had clearly lost, she hadn't been hurt a lot. They were too far away to overhear, but their body language radiated respect for each other. The boy would make a good cloud for Sawada's strong sky.

The moment Bianchi had seen Sawada in real life, she knew the petite girl would become a great boss, one Bianchi would be proud to serve under and swear alliance to. It wasn't even a conscious decision.

First, Bianchi would go and introduce herself and prepare a PROPER file with the girl's help. Then she would contact Reborn. Bianchi would certainly hone the girl's fighting and feminine tricks, which she would dearly need to survive the mafia, but she knew bollocks of being a good boss. Her gender had insured Bianchi had never received the training that was her birthright.

Reborn, however, had a reputation of making strong bosses out of wimps. Sawada Tsuna was anything but a wimp. Reborn would forge a truly fearsome creature out of this beautiful and surprising girl. Bianchi nearly cackled as she imagined the fates of the macho Mafioso, who sought to keep women in the kitchen and bedroom. Their reign was clearly over.

Turning back to the roof, Bianchi saw that the rest of the group, who had been observing the previous fight, had started to practice as well, all with flames. She quickly memorized their faces, so she could look them up later.

A loud, white-haired boy (his 'EXTREME' was audible from where Bianchi was sitting) had put on boxing gloves, surrounded by yellow flames. He had partnered up with a boy with a blue flamed baseball bat. The cloud had marched off, because the rest of the group, Sawada included, consisted of girls only.

Sawada had partnered off with a very pretty and sweet looking girl with a parasol. It was only her indigo aura that gave her true nature away. The only girl with long hair, carrying a flaming red whip, faced a girl with green crackling all around her and a scissor in each hand.

The familiarity between the group made Bianchi suspect that Harmonization had already happened, a rarity as all elements where still in their teens. It would please Reborn though, since bonded Skies were more stable and confident. Bianchi slipped away, she had a LOT of research to do and very little time to accomplish it.

* * *

"Finally done." Bianchi sighed happily. It had been a very long day. A productive one, true, but also extremely vexing. Considering this morning's surprises, she had thrown Iemitsu's file in the bin, where it belonged. The general school information had been mostly correct, but had also give Bianchi several things to think about. First of all, Sawada had been bullied relentlessly until the summer break of second grade. Also, she always used the _other_ option when asked to indicate her gender.

The rest of the file had been utter and complete bullsh rubbish. Sawada Tsuna might have the skills of an ideal woman, but she was no delicate flower. She regularly sparred with her friends, with and without flames, and held her own against all of them.

Combined with her odd fighting style, this indicated a teacher, which Bianchi had found hide nor hair of. Sawada had never attended any fighting club, at school or otherwise, nor had she had any tutors with such qualifications over the years. Of her friends, only the baseball bat-wielding Yamamoto and the white-haired Sasagawa had received formal training. Sasagawa attended a boxing club every Sunday morning. And had done so for the past 10 years.

On the other hand, Yamamoto's father owned a sushi restaurant, though Bianchi knew him by reputation. Yamamoto Tsuyoshi had been a world-class assassin before he settled down in Japan. He was still a master of an illustrious sword style, but Bianchi found no hint of him teaching anyone but his own son.

None of them were remarkable to the untrained eye, expect for Hibari Kyouya, Sawada's cloud. They could all pass for normal students, though each had their own quirks. Those might get some raised eyebrows now and then, but nothing unacceptable. Like they knew they might get investigated and took their precautions.

Except for Hibari. He was unabashedly strange and didn't care who knew it. The boy had fixed his natural cloud possessiveness on Namimori and regularly patrolled the streets, beating up any thugs, Yakuza or bullies who disturbed the peace. He ruled Namimori Middle with his tonfas and Disciplinary Committee and seemed to have a fondness for animalistic expressions.

Anyway she had sent all updated files to Reborn, together with videos of some of the fights she had filmed. Hopefully it would get his teacher senses tingling. Those would make him come immediately, instead of making her wait a month or more. Bianchi couldn't afford to lose so much time and neither could Sawada.

That said, her easy tasks were now over, so she would have to go and introduce herself to the Sawadas. Maybe she'd finally get to see Sawada Nana, whom Bianchi had only seen glimpses of during her inquiries. When the door opened Bianchi saw the last person she had ever expected to see in Namimori. Her jaw dropped and her eyes felt like they'd roll out of her face, but Bianchi couldn't bring herself to care about it.

That silky brown hair, those enormous, innocent eyes, that smile…Bianchi had seen plenty of pictures of the face before her, but never had she even considered meeting the legend and idol that had shaped her and plenty of other girls into Hitwomen.

Bianchi instinctively bowed deeply before the greatest Hitwoman of the century, a woman who was rumoured to be an even stronger mist than the Acrobaleno Viper. "It is truly an honour to meet you, Knifing Fox. You have always been an inspiration for me." Bianchi's voice wasn't shaking but it's a near thing.

The older woman giggled. "Why, thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you, Poison Scorpion. May I ask what a famous assassin is doing here in our humble neighbourhood?"

"I'm here on official Vongola business. Perhaps we can discuss this inside?" Bianchi was very glad she decided to switch course, because Knifing Fox would NEVER allow her daughter to be used in mafia power plays. Even if she did apparently marry Iemitsu.

She still was wary of the knife in Sawada's hand, but thankfully Knifing Fox only invited her for breakfast, instead of taking offence. That would probably have ended with the knife in Bianchi's heart.


	4. Revelations and misconceptions

"Mama, who's our guest?" Tsuna asked as he entered the kitchen. His mother was sitting at the dinner table with a pink-haired woman, drinking tea and eating pancakes. The women, though dressed casually, had a distinct mafia feel.

She had positioned herself with the best escape routes directly accessible and a wall at her back. (If she did belong in the mafia though, she probably just as well could escape by blowing up the house.)

Her mafia background was clear in the way she tensed when Tsuna walked in, even though he had been quiet as a falling feather and out of her line of sight. It was also clear in the way she radiated respect towards his mother. Most people saw Sawada Nana as a normal, if slightly ditzy, housewife. However this person knew better.

Conclusion: she belonged in the mafia. The only question remaining: 'What in the world was she doing here?'

"This is Bianchi, also know as Poison Scorpion. She is allied with the Vongola — well, for now that is — and she has some interesting information." Nana was not happy at all with news, that much was clear. She was smiling her 'I'm going to kill someone, slowly and painfully'-smile.

Tsuna nodded politely at the pink-haired hitwoman. "Hello Bianchi-san. Please call me Tsuna. What has my idiotic father done this time?"

Bianchi raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think Sawada-san has anything to do with this?"

"Intuition. Also, mama usually reserves that smile for Iemitsu's stupid antics and you are here on Vongola business." Tsuna answered plainly.

Bianchi digested this for a moment. "So your mother told you about the mafia? Well, that does make this conversion slightly easier. Are you aware that you are the last eligible carrier of the Vongola-bloodline?"

Tsuna nodded. "Mama sat me down and explained everything when I unlocked my flames in a car accident a couple of years ago. Coincidentally, most of my friends awakened theirs as well, because they saw it happening."

Bianchi smiled softly at the young girl before her. So she had had her full set of guardians for sometime already. Good! "The Ninth and your father are following certain mafia traditions and have declared you unsuitable for the position of Decimo, because you are a girl. In all of their wisdom — cough stupidity cough — they have decided to marry you off to the Ninth's adopted son, Xanxus, who leads the Varia. I was sent here to prepare you for this marriage."

Tsuna piped up, "But I'm a boy."

Not quite processing what just had been said, Bianchi went on, "There is of course no way I'm going through with this, but… Wait, what did you say?"

"I'm a boy," Tsuna repeated patiently. Seeing Bianchi's blank stare, he decided she needed to see to believe, so he easily lifted up his shirt to show his flat chest.

At this point Bianchi's brain overloaded and she fell to the floor in a dead faint. She simply couldn't handle the fact that a boy this pretty could exist and willingly dressed up as a girl. When she woke a few minutes later on the sofa, she looked Tsuna straight in the eye and asked, "Why?".

Tsuna seemed to expect this question. She, no he, handed Bianchi a cup of string tea, which was gratefully accepted, and sat down opposite Bianchi.

Despite knowing his gender, everything about Tsuna still screamed female. From the long, fluffy light brown hair, to the large doe like yes and the plump pink lips, all inherited from his equally beautiful mother. Bianchi saw no Adam's apple, nor any obvious muscles, which should be there by a boy who fought as much as Tsuna. His clothes were androgynous enough — a simple T-shirt and jeans —, though obviously from the girls' section. Even the way he moved, graceful and light on his feet, was feminine.

Not to mention, shouldn't Iemitsu be aware of his only child's gender. Bianchi was utterly confused. Across her Tsuna seemed to have gathered her, his damnit, thoughts and began talking.

"It's true I was born a boy, but I've never really been accepted as one. As a boy, I was bullied a lot for my feminine appearance and girly tendencies. I don't really care about gender, so dressing up like a girl is not a hardship to me. It's not like I want to have an operation. Becoming a girl was just easier then taking daily abuse because of something I could do nothing about.

I've only ever had my mama to look up to. Even before I learned of her past as hitwoman, I adored and admired her. One day when I was seven, I had enough of the bullying, so I asked mama to teach me more like her. That summer vacation she taught me the basics of cooking, gardening, and yes being a girl. Mama hired tutors to help me with my schoolwork, because teachers had intentionally sabotaged my education.

When I went back to school, everyone accepted me as a girl and I went from the school's whipping boy to the school's idol. How I live now is far more agreeable then before. I don't mind the girly clothes or the way my body never really developed. My friends know I'm a boy, but it doesn't matter to them. I'm still Tsuna, their friend and little sister. I feel neither like a boy, nor a girl, so on paperwork I always use the other option, even if I need to make it myself."

Tsuna almost seemed to deflate after his long speech. Nana smiled softly at her little boy and took over with a giggle. "I do confess that I helped things along a little bit. When Tsu-chan came to for help, I made a little illusion activated by any variation of 'Sawada Tsunayoshi'. It suggests that Tsu-chan is a girl, which is then further reinforced by his feminine appearance. I added something similar to all existing paperwork, so the cover wouldn't be blown. Because I'm such a strong mist, the illusion is only broken when Tsu-chan reveals his real gender."

Bianchi burst out laughing at the irony of it all. "This really is too good to be true. Tsuna-san, you will be a fresh breath of air for the Vongola. Things have been going down for them ever since Primo retired."

She kneeled before the feminine teen. "I pledge myself to Sawada Tsunayoshi, heir to the Vongola famiglia. May you give all those old codgers heart attacks and bring a new age of gender equality, moe and acceptance. Please accept me as your protector, mentor, and even your friend."

Tsuna's grin was frightening and terrifyingly cute at the same time. "I like your style Bianchi-sensei. Please teach me how to be the best boss ever. His impressive stance was slightly undermined by the blooming flowers and sparkles in the background.

* * *

Reborn couldn't help but be surprised at the ping that announced incoming, private mail. He had a public e-mail address so people could contract him for hits, but only a handful of people knew his private one. And of those people, only one person used it on a semi-regular basis. Bianchi, his ex turned best friend, kept him updated on her life, mostly to try and make him jealous.

Last he'd heard of her, she had gotten a long-term mission on behalf of the Vongola. A mission she'd refused to talk about. She might have sent him a message, but he thought it unlikely. So who could it be? The only other possibilities were the Acrobaleno, and they'd never contact him if it weren't urgent and even then! He wasn't even on speaking terms with most of them right now. Opening the mail, he saw to his astonishment that it did indeed come from Bianchi.

**Dear Reborn,**

**As you know, I'm on a mission for the Vongola. I've refused to discuss this before, because it involves me preparing Sawada Tsuna for a marriage to Xanxus. Sawada-san is Iemitsu-baka's daughter and she is the last available carrier of Primo's bloodline.**

**Nono and Iemitsu decided that they'd rather have a spoiled, hot-headed brat as Decimo, than even contemplate making a girl boss. Never mind that the girl is underage in most countries, Xanxus would probably take her to his bed before the wedding anyways. Iemitsu gave me file with some of Sawada-san's basic information, which turned utter and complete crap, except for the scorecard. I've since completely reworked and have enclosed in this mail.**

**When I arrived in Namimori I found Sawada-san sparring and holding her own against a boy, who can only be described as Varia quality. It lasted for at least 10 minutes before Sawada-san lost, though I'm sure I missed a good portion of it. Sawada-san's unique fighting style and dirty tricks make her a decent enough fighter.**

**The real shocker however was that it was a FLAME fight! I swear, never before have I ever seen a Sky as strong and pure as Sawada-san, and her friends are all approaching the same level. Not giving this girl her rightful chance at the Vongola Trials seems akin to sacrilege to me. Based on my observations she has already harmonized with all her guardians/friends.**

**It's mind-blowing and I want you to train her to, and beyond, her full potential. Believe me, she will be worth the effort. I also enclosed video's of the group sparring, to give you an idea of what you'll be working with.**

**Expecting you soon,**

**Bianchi**

**P.S.: While you're training Sawada-san, might I prevail on you to take on Gokudera as well? Knowing our father, I fear he'll need your guidance badly.**

**-File Sawada-**

**-Videos-**

Now this was very interesting. Bianchi sure knew how to get and hold his attention. Quickly scanning through the file, he took note of the sudden boost of Sawada's grades after the summer holiday of his second year in elementary. 'A tutor, perhaps?'

Reborn also noticed the consistent other option by gender and filed it away for later speculation. Sawada's group of friends was a fascinating mix of characters, all of who showed a lot of potential as future guardians. He would make the trip to Namimori and meet the girl in person.

Sawada Tsuna would be the crown of his teaching career. Although a smart and talented pupil was a good starting point, it always remained to be seen how they evolved and how they lived up to their expectations. Still, not having to deal with a wimp as heir to an influential mafia Family would do wonders for his mood. Dino was a loyal student, but the boy had needed a lot of work to become a successful Don, and even now Reborn wasn't entirely satisfied with the results.

He quickly typed a reply to Bianchi and started packing for an extended trip. He would make a wonderful and terrifying don out of Sawada. It was long past time for the Vongola, and by extension the whole mafia, to change its out-dated practices. Besides he fondly remembered the missions he and Sawada's mother had worked on together. If Sawada had inherited even half of her mother's genes, the world needed to prepare itself for utter chaos.

The evil grin that appeared on Reborn's angelic face could truly be described as the most petrifying thing on earth. Coupled with his dark aura no toddler should ever posses, it was enough make the bravest man piss his pants in a dead faint. (The bravest woman would just cackle and plot with him.)

**Bianchi,**

**Will arrive somewhere tomorrow, likely late. You start the girl on feminine teachings, whatever those may be, and poison. Please convey greetings to Knifing Fox, had been a while. Call Gokudera. I'll teach you, as is your birthright, but he can make nice with Decima.**

**R**


	5. Plotting

It was a Sunday, which meant that Tsuna and his friends got together at one of their houses to hang out together/demand spars and enjoy Tsuna's delicious cooking. As it happened, that week their designated place was Tsuna's and so, at 10 in the morning, 6 teens were standing apprehensively in the doorway of the Sawada household's kitchen. Even Hibari was cautious at the display before him — which says a lot to be honest.

In the kitchen, Tsuna and a pink-haired stranger were cooking together. That in itself wasn't unusual, if the pink-haired lady was ignored temporarily. However, the dark fumes and poisonous aura coming from the food prepared by strange lady were. Nevertheless, as they were watching, Tsuna's bright and innocent aura seed to negate those dangerous elements and the smell turned mouth-watering. The food looked as delicious as usual. Tsuna's skill in the kitchen was the reason they often started with brunch at Tsuna's on Sunday before leaving for the designating house.

"Yo Tsuna! Who's your cooking partner?" Takeshi, wearing his usual wide smile, although it seemed a little pinched when the lady somehow made fresh eggs rot.

"Oh hello Takeshi, Kyoko, Hana, Haru, Ryohei-nii-san, Kyouya-san. This is Bianchi, also known as Poison Scorpion. She has been sent here by my idiotic father. Please let me explain once we've finished cooking." Everyone expressed their understanding, seeing the concentration it took to negate what ever it was that Bianchi was doing. (Hibari just grunted and glowered in his usual style.)

Once the food was ready and set on the table, everyone, including Nana, took a seat. Only Nana, Bianchi, Ryohei and Tsuna dove in immediately. The others were still shaking from what they had witnessed only minutes before. Had Tsuna not been there they would have been completely right in turning down any food prepared by Bianchi. Her skill lay after all in poisoning any food she made, unconsciously at that.

Tsuna's cooking however had evolved so much, he was able to negate any poison that found it's way into the food he was preparing. He knew of this skill, and started eating without hesitation. Bianchi wasn't aware at all of her tendency to poison her cooking outside of missions and had become immune to the poison. Nana could detect even the smallest amount of poison, so after a deep breath she tucked in without worries. Ryohei just liked way too much and didn't even consider the consequences of the scene he just witnessed. Furthermore, he trusted Tsuna blindly. So if his little sister thought the food was save to eat, so would he.

After a few minutes of seeing the four enjoying their meal without any ill effects, the rest began eating with gusto. For several minutes no other sounds could be heard except for people appreciating wonderful food. Soon the last crumbs were licked from the plates and the gang made themselves comfortable in the Sawada's living room. Kyoko, Haru and Hana took the sofa. Hibari crouched on the windowsill. Ryohei, Takeshi, Nana and Bianchi took their chairs from the kitchen with them and Tsuna curled up on the armchair. (The fact that the armchair in question was placed near the window is purely a coincidence.)

"Because of the illusion mama placed over my real gender, the ninth boss of the Vongola and my father truly believe me to be a girl. As you know I carry the bloodline of the first boss, which makes me eligible to take the boss trials. However the Ninth and my father don't want a girl as Decimo. Like most of the male portion of the mafia, they are rather opposed to women carrying sharp weapons around, for some reason.

The other candidates have all perished in suspicious circumstances, and now only the Ninth's adopted son is left. His name is Xanxus and he leads the Varia, Vongola's independent elite assassin squad. As he doesn't carry the Vongola blood, he technically isn't able to become the Decimo." Here Tsuna paused to calm his anger and frustration at the machinations going on behind his back.

"Nono and Iemitsu have come up with the _brilliant_ plan to wed me to Xanxus, so he would have the right to try and become Decimo. They apparently don't care that he is a brat with daddy issues, who direly needs some anger management classes. Eight years ago, Xanxus and the Varia tried to overthrow the Ninth, just because he learned about his adoption. This was dubbed the Cradle Affair and Xanxus was frozen in ice as a punishment.

Last news is that the Ninth has defrosted, so he can get his business in order before he comes to Namimori for a year to _get to know his future bride and court me_. If they get their way, I'll be married on my sixteenth birthday, after which Xanxus can take a try at the Vongola trials. If worst comes to worst and he isn't chosen, he'll be regent until one of his sons is old enough."

The living room exploded — figuratively, but only barely as everyone expressed their fury and indignation at the medieval way of the mafia. Hibari especially seemed opposed to the marriage and the girls were outraged that gender could obstruct an heir from her birthright. They weren't going to calm down on their own soon, so Tsuna put two fingers in his mouth and produced a sharp whistle. It worked like a charm. They all fell silent and looked expectantly at Tsuna.

"Thank you. Now if you'll allow me to explain the plan Bianchi, mama and I worked out this morning, I'll be very grateful. Bianchi estimated it would most likely take about three months for Xanxus and his guardians to arrive in Namimori. She based herself on her own mission, and three months was the time she was allowed to prepare me. In that time period, we are going to train and train hard, so we are ready for them.

Also, somehow we are going to have to steal the halves of the Vongola rings in the CEDEF's possession. Having them will insure a battle of rings between the Varia and us. The person with the complete Sky ring undergoes the trial to become Decimo. Not only will Bianchi train us, she has contacted another teacher for us as well. His name is Reborn and he is said to be the greatest" — cough male cough— "hitman in the mafia. Any questions I haven't answered?"

To no one's surprise Hana spoke up. She was Tsuna's right-hand woman and the strategic brain of the group. "Why doesn't your father become Decimo? I assume the bloodline runs through him."

"You are entirely correct, but my father is head of the CEDEF and therefore can't lead the Vongola. The CEDEF is a secret intelligence organization and they advise the Vongola externally. Unless I'm very much mistaken, the first Cloud guardian founded them to create a balance when the second boss was named. They hold one half of the Vongola rings. The other halves are in the possession of the boss and his guardians. While they belong to the Vongola famiglia, they remain outside of the famiglia's direct control. In war time the CEDEF leader will become the Vongola's second-in-command." Tsuna calmly answered.

"A frightening prospective for those who know your father," came Hana's dry reply, breaking the tense atmosphere.

"Tsu-chan," Nana spoke up.

"Yes, mama?" Tsuna replied. Everyone turned to Nana, not having expected the elder Sawada to speak up.

"I believe I'll take a short vacation. With Bianchi and Reborn here as responsible adults, I feel safe leaving you here alone. I don't think I'll be gone much longer than a week. Is that all right, Tsu-chan?" Nana smiled sweetly.

"Sure, you really deserve some relaxation. Are you going to that new spa-resort, or something like that?" Tsuna asked, getting a mischievous smile back.

"I do think so. Now mama is going to pack, so behave and listen to Bianchi." Everyone promised to, or gave an answer that could be interpreted as such and Nana went upstairs.

Surprisingly Hibari spoke up first. "We will train at my family's dojo. Leave a note for the herbivore, who has yet to arrive and we'll depart."

* * *

"So, you've finally come to regret your decision, old man." Xanxus glowered at the man he'd called father for the most of his life. A man he had trusted, respected and even adored, only to be betrayed in the worst possible way. The fact he'd reacted with a betrayal of his didn't matter to him. To Xanxus it was a justified response to losing his identity, heritage and inheritance.

The street had taught him many lessons. One of them was to take revenge in such a way the offenders wouldn't try anything again. Another was to keep your possessions close and to treasure them passionately.

Nono sighed at the hate and distrust in his beloved child's eyes. This wasn't how he'd wanted to spend the last years of his life. One of his sons was supposed to have taken over by now and he should have been enjoying a retired life with lost of grandchildren to spoil. Alas, fate had decided different.

"I always regretted the fact I had to encase you in ice to stop your rampage, Xanxus. I can only hope that one day you'll understand my reasons and forgive me for it. Nevertheless, this matter will have to wait for a later time. You know one line of the Vongola ends with me, but we've discovered that Iemitsu is also a descendant of Primo."

Xanxus's rage was almost visible by the time Nono stopped speaking. "If you think I'll ever accept that fool as Decimo, you're become more senile than I thought."

Nono smiled indulgingly, despite the insult to the CEDEF boss. "Iemitsu can't become Decimo, Xanxus. He is the head of CEDEF, and not as stupid as you believe he is. He has a daughter however, Sawada Tsuna. She is almost 15 and already well on her way to become an ideal wife, or so we've observed.

We've concluded she is not fit to lead the Vongola and would be much more suited for marriage. Therefore we've decided to arrange a marriage between the two of you, so you are in the possession of the Vongola bloodline. All details about the girl are in this file.

In three months, you and your guardians will go to Namimori for a year. You'll use that time to get to know Miss Sawada and court her to the best of your ability. On her 16th birthday the two of you will wed and you, Xanxus, will be allowed to undergo the Vongola trials. Should you fail, I'll name you regent until one of your sons becomes Decimo. Is that acceptable to you?"

Xanxus nodded. He did have a question though. "Why the three months delay? Not that I'm eager to meet a weak-willed female."

"Miss Sawada will use that time to learn about her new circumstances and what she needs to know as a mafia wife. You'll get your business into order and I'll teach you what it means to be a boss of a family as large as the Vongola. Reborn will continue those lessons in Namimori." Timoteo explained.

Xanxus stood, thinking the lecture over, but Nono called him back before he could leave the room. "Xanxus? I'd _prefer_ it if Miss Sawada admired rather than feared you. Do you understand? I know you can be charming if you want to. Keep in mind that a willing wife is much more pleasant when you're in need of a distraction or want to relieve your urges."

Xanxus grinned. Of course he could be charming, he's a true Italian, after all. Besides, he did see the advantages of having such a cute and beautiful wife. He certainly wouldn't mind his husbandly duties, provided the girl was willing. Despite all his posturing, Xanxus was still a street rat at heart and he protected what he considered his, women included. He might have a bad temper and few morals, but even he drew the line at rape.

He'd need to have a stern talking with his guardians, otherwise they might scare off his little wife. He would also assign Lussuria to her. His Sun guardian was the most social — and socially accepted — of his guardians and would do well to ease Tsuna's transition into the Varia. Of course, Xanxus would entertain her himself most of the time, but Lussuria would keep her company when he was due for lessons.

Glancing through the file one last time, he took out the picture and put in his pocket as he threw the file — rubbish written by Iemitsu — into the bin.

* * *

The headquarters of CEDEF were concealed in an ordinary building with a business front. As it was a bit after 5 o'clock in the morning, the building was empty except for the security guards, who were still somewhat active. At this time of night, the attention weaned. The mind weakened by hours of gazing in the dark or at monitors.

No one had ever tried to break in, why start now? In less than an hour the sun would rise. No burglar, however experienced, could break in and get away, surely. Every floor was protected and trapped to the noggins, with cameras leaving no blind spot.

On the 5th floor a shadow moved, quickly and silently. Any observer would have trouble believing it was really there and not just a figment of their imagination. However no one was looking at the monitors for this floor. Even in daytime, only a select few had access to this particular part of the building. To enter you would need a key, a number and letter password. Furthermore you would need to pass an iris scanner and voice recognition. That is, if you even reached the entrance. Being in the middle of the building — in every way — there was no easy way to reach it and every angle was under the surveillance of the bored and sleepy guards.

For shadow it was all child's play. A little hacking into the so-called most secure network of the mafia, a stolen key from the head himself — sleeping like the dead — and they were in. years of sneaking around had made the shadow extremely adept at bypassing the hardest security measures in the world — Verde's, in case you're interested.

The prize they were after was hidden in a very ordinary looking office, if one ignored the extensive trapping, that is. A box was taken out of the plain, but very expensive ebony desk and the contents swapped. A mere moment later the shadow was gone and no one would be any wiser for a long time.


	6. Who're you calling a baby?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Melanie Arden Desmond for helping me check Tsuna's gender neutrality.

_Left. Duck under that tonfa. Flying kick and backflip. Block the first— not on the elbow! — and dodge the other._

By the time Bianchi declared Kyouya the winner, Tsuna was heaving from exertion. The match had lasted a little more than 30 minutes, a record for Tsuna. His clothes were completely soaked with sweat. Kyouya-san never held back in sparring, especially against Tsuna.

Ever since they had moved from Tsuna's house to the dojo that morning, Kyouya-san had been fighting against everyone in the group. He went all out against every single one of them, but seemed as fresh as always.

Bianchi had wanted a thorough understanding of their non-flame combat abilities, and Kyouya-san, as the strongest in the world, was the ideal standard to measure them against. Tsuna had been the last to be evaluated, so they could go and refresh themselves for dinner. After dinner, Bianchi would give them her assessment and help them plan individual training regimes.

"Ciaossu," a soft and childlike voice greeted.

Tsuna whirled around and stared, mimicked by everyone but Bianchi. In the doorway of the dojo stood a toddler, except the proportions were all wrong. The head was too big for the body, which looked more like a full-grown body that had been minified.

Furthermore the child was dressed in a black suit with a red shirt and blue tie. His black fedora had a broad orange stripe and around his neck hung a, in comparison, truly huge yellow pacifier. To complete the picture, he had a chameleon on his shoulder. Although the baby looked extremely strange, he was also awfully cute with his big, dark eyes and curly sideburns. Even his devil may care posture made the girls and Tsuna want to coo.

Tsuna's group didn't consist of ordinary teenagers however and they sensed the baby's dangerousness. Therefore they feared for Bianchi's life as she leaped over their heads and hugged the infant to her chest, squealing all the while. (Some of them seriously wondered about her sense of self-preservation as well.) Had they not feared for her life so much, they might have picked up on the toddler's amusing expression of tolerant suffering as he was pressed into Bianchi's ample chest.

"Reborn, You're here already! Since you wrote you would arrive late, I wasn't expecting you. Did you have any trouble finding us?" The baby glared at Bianchi, interrupting her verbal diarrhoea.

"I wrote that I would _probably_ be late, but as it happened I got my business in order far sooner than expected. I just missed you at the Sawada household and arrived here as you explained your assessment. Since I wanted an unbiased impression of these kids, I hid myself in that lovely Magnolia tree to observe. Now remove me from your cleavage and put me down. I'm hungry and in desperate need of an espresso." Everyone was surprised by the child's voice. It was high-pitched, yes, but also cultured and screamed adult.

Haru's love of babies compelled her to step forward at last. "Ne, Bianchi-nee-san, who is this baby?" The baby's black eyes locked on her, his glare making Haru want to flee.

"Who are you calling a baby? I'm Reborn, the greatest hitman in the world." No one dared to move, frozen the aura of killing intent surrounding him.

Suddenly Kyoko bounced up to Bianchi and Reborn — who had been out down by Bianchi. Her usual pink aura dispersed the killing intent around her. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Reborn-san. Bianchi told us you would come to teach us, though she neglected to mention your circumstances, so your unusual appearance took us by surprise. By the way, is that a Zegna suit?" She sent a glower towards Bianchi, who was suddenly very interested in the roof of the dojo.

Reborn blinked at the remark on his suit. "It is actually. You have good eyes, miss…"

Kyoko smiled happily. "I'm Sasagawa Kyoko. The white-haired boy with the boxing gloves is my brother Ryohei. Miura Haru made the thoughtless remark and Kurokawa Hana is the girl with long hair. Yamamoto Takeshi is the one with the bat, while Kyouya has tonfas and he has been sparring against all of us this afternoon. Oh, and you see this utterly adorable creature?"

Kyoko bounced to Tsuna. "This is our leader, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Would you like to accompany us to the main house for dinner and a change of clothes?"

"You've got quite a mouth on you and nerves of steel, or a complete lack of survival instinct. A mist, aren't you?" Reborn remarked casually, though inwardly impressed with the seemingly flighty girl.

"Yes, but I'm sure that Bianchi already briefed you on that. Shall we go?" Kyoko asked.

"Very well, lead the way," Reborn answered with a tilt of his fedora.

The other teens took a deep breath once Kyoko had skillfully defused the precarious situation. None of them ever wanted to see Reborn ever again.

Tsuna had a pensive look on his face. He couldn't help but feel this had been a test on Reborn's part. He had leaked a great deal of killing intent, yes, but it had been very controlled.

Ah well, he better change out of his sweaty clothes first. Thankfully they had divided some of their wardrobes between the houses, in case of emergencies. Usually they never sparred this intensively, but all kinds of accidents had happened before. Especially when Tsuna and Kyouya-san sparred together.

There had been that one time when a tonfa had gotten stuck on Tsuna's trousers and had ripped them clear of his legs. The awkwardness had been doubled, because Tsuna preferred panties to usual boy underwear. Even the usual stoic Kyouya-san had blushed furiously and had averted his eyes.

Then there was also the incident where Kyouya-san's shirt had caught on fire and he had to jump into a nearby pond to escape awful burns. A wet Kyouya-san with only shreds of his shirt left on his muscled upper body had been kind of sexy.

'No! Bad thoughts Tsuna!'

Tsuna blushed fiercely, unaware of the adorable picture he made. Meanwhile, a certain skylark had his own difficulties. Primarily, keeping himself from jumping Tsuna in broad daylight with so many bystanders.

* * *

"Voooooi! Why have you called us here instead of doing your paperwork, you shitty boss!" Squalo's voice echoed through the Varia mansion.

"Shut up, trash! I can't answer your f*cking questions if you don't give me the f*cking time to talk!" Xanxus glared at his guardians sitting before him. He could somewhat appreciate their concerns, but he didn't need the headache that came from their lack of discipline. When their boss spoke, they should keep their traps shut. Yet they just wouldn't learn!

"The old man has finally given me my rightful chance at succeeding him as Decimo. Not that he had a choice. The only other option would have been Iemitsu's civilian daughter. The girl however has the solution to my lack of Vongola blood. I will marry her and take the trials afterwards. If I'm rejected, which I won't, I'll be regent until one of sons becomes Decimo." Xanxus grinned at the shocked faces of his trusted guardians.

Lussuria recovered first, no surprise considering his _colourful_ personality. Really, he wouldn't go amiss in a teenage girl sleepover. "Aw, give us some details boss. What's the girl's name? What does she look like? How old is she?"

"Sawada Tsuna, nearly fifteen." Xanxus tossed the picture he'd taken from the file earlier on the table.

Lussuria squealed, f*cking squealed like a little girl. "A real cutie. I bet she's gonna be a beautiful woman! I like her already."

"Good, because you're gonna make nice with her. In three months we're moving to Namimori, so I can court to Tsuna. October the fourteenth next year, I'll become Decimo. While I will be keeping my intended… busy, the old man has arranged a tutor for me and you'll be keeping Tsuna company instead of me, Lussuria. Perhaps Levi can help, but the other stay clear, understand?! No need to frighten her away. Use the next three months to put your affairs in order. Dismissed!"

* * *

"Are you alright, Timoteo?" The soft voice boomed through the dark and empty office.

Nono looked up from his hands and sighed deeply. "I'm beginning to feel my age, Coyote. I never expected this kind of outcome. Three of my sons dead, and the last one so bitter he can barely stands to be in my company. All because I didn't have the courage to tell him he was mine in everything but blood. To top it off, an innocent girl is dragged into this rotten world to prevent the extinction of our famiglia."

"So, why didn't you give her the chance to prove herself?" Coyote's voice was judgmental in its monotone quality.

"Because a civilian simply cannot give the stability this famiglia needs! Certain factions have been sabotaging the Vongola ever since my sons were killed. Not only that, but Xanxus will raise Hell if a civilian is favoured over him." Timoteo tried to defend his decision.

"Based on Iemitsu-san's file." The sarcasm was palpable.

"I admit that the file could be more professional, but even with exaggeration, it still sketches a civilian girl with excellent wife qualities. You know my own mother was barely accepted. She had to suppress all opposition with the help of CEDEF and the Varia. Sawada-san would have the Varia against her, along with all the rest. I cannot allow such a thing to happen." Timoteo explained, and he really believed what he was saying.

"So you decided to wed her to a man she has never met and is ten years her senior." Coyote usually was a master in hiding his true feeling, but a sliver of disappointment got true.

Timoteo bowed his head. "Not my best moment, to be sure. I did talk to Xanxus, though. He knows to treat her like his queen, or there will be consequences. At least this way the girl is protected from all harm. Xanxus won't let anyone get close enough to hurt her."

Coyote nodded. He knew all about the intricacies of leading a major Famiglia from years of observing his Sky. Now he had it all explained, the marriage did seem like the only viable course. If only because the girl wasn't flame active. She would fail before she'd even begun. The Vongola needed to prosper, many small famiglia's depended on their wealth and influence.

"Let's relax. Enjoy some wine, play a round of poker. I'll call the others." Timoteo nodded along with his Storm. He could do with some entertainment after all the brooding he'd done.

* * *

In the end it took nearly an hour for all of them to shower and change. The Hibari mansion was rather large, but the amount of bathrooms was still limited. The girls plus Tsuna had one with a bath and a shower and the boys one with only a shower, well more like a shower room. Tsuna had joined the girls, because the boys saw him as a sister — mostly.

The sights in those two bathrooms were very different. Even Hibari had been tempted into a water fight, and without his tonfas as well! The girls on the other hand were doing each other's hair and having a long overdue girls' talk.

Hence why they arrived in the dining room just after dinner had been served. Reborn and Bianchi were sitting close together, whispering over some papers. As the teens sat down, they put away the papers and everyone tucked in hungrily. The food was great and, more importantly, available in large quantities. The Hibari's cook knew by then to make enough food to make a small army. Going to Hibari's house always meant an afternoon of intense sparring and ravenous children afterwards. The cook didn't mind. She usually had little to do, since the elder Hibaris were often away on business trips.

At last even Ryohei was done eating and Bianchi and Reborn started their assessment. Hibari only needed to work on fighting in group, which none of them had much experience in. He was allowed to do his own thing, unless they needed him to spar against the other to track their progress.

Ryohei needed to work on dodging. He had a dangerous tendency to take everything head on. He also had to work on thinking before rushing in, and accurately judging his opponent's skills. Reborn had already talked to a colleague, who would take Ryohei under his wing.

Takeshi would be trained by his father in the way of the sword. He was somewhat mournful to say goodbye to his beloved baseball, but accepted the outcome in good humour. If it would help him to protect his little family, he would do it without complaints.

Reborn had decided to team up with Nana to help Tsuna to work on her stamina and power. Nana would also work with Kyoko as well. Her vast imagination fuelled her powerful mist flames, but she needed to work on her physical abilities to give her that extra edge. Few people expected Mists to fight, as most were inclined to use only their flames as both their weapon and shield.

Bianchi's little brother, Smoking Bomb Gokudera Hayato, would be arriving soon. He and Hana would train together as they were both Storms and medium to long distance fighters. Gokudera had the flame and strategy training and Hana the combat training. Reborn had contacted a teacher for them, but had had no confirmation yet.

Haru would train under Bianchi in combat and flame manipulation. Not an ideal match-up in terms of abilities, but Bianchi was used to dealing with temperaments like Haru and would at least be able to work with her.

Along with the evaluation, Reborn also gave them improved weapons. Hibari got new, improved tonfas. Takeshi got a katana. For Ryohei he produced a new pair of boxing gloves. Kyoko's parasol was replaced with one with a nearly hypnotic pattern. Hana's new whip had diamonds studded over three quarters of its length. The scissors that replaced Haru's old ones could cut through bone. Tsuna got black gloves with metal plates and an X on each back. All of those weapons, Reborn explained, were reinforced and flame-resistant.

Just as Reborn finished up, a little boy flew into the room through the window. He had an unkempt, ginormous afro with two little horns sticking out of it and had on cow printed rompers with tail. As he landed on the dining room table, he started screaming at Reborn. All the while, he was waving a hand grenade around, making everyone scoot back a little.

Haru was having none of it. She stomped over to the table and handily scooped up the child, sitting down again with him in her lap. She rocked him gently, wiping away his tears and crooning softly.

When the little boy finally calmed down enough, Haru and Tsuna gently questioned him. His name was Lambo, of the Bovino famiglia, and he was five years old. A few months ago, the boss had thrown him out with a mountain of weapons. The way to return to his family was to kill Reborn.

Naturally everyone was absolutely furious. Even Hana, who couldn't stand children in general, and Hibari, who usually didn't care. Banishing a child from their home and thus forcing a suicide mission on him, was plain cruel and inhuman. They promised Lambo that he wouldn't have to kill Reborn. From now on they would be his family. Haru would care for him until Nana came back home and could adopt him.

Lambo couldn't quite believe the luck that had befallen him. He was aware that he could be a little annoying, but really, all he wanted was some sincere attention. He had no mommy or daddy, just whatever family member that could be saddled with his care. Being loud and rude was the only way to get someone to see him, even if only to scold and punish him.

When that stupid boss had thrown him out, he'd been desperate. He had heard the whispers about Reborn: a demon in a baby's body. No way that he'd be able to succeed. Still, he hadn't had a choice, so he started a long journey, following whatever rumours he heard. But now his struggle had come to an end. He had family! People who cared about Lambo and didn't mind his tantrums! Happy for the first time in years, he quickly fell asleep in the softest arms he'd ever felt.


	7. Recklessness and courage

"Tsu-chan, mama is home again!" Nana waltzed into her kitchen exactly a week after she had left so abruptly for her _holiday_.

To her surprise she saw some new additions at her kitchen table. Reborn was no surprise — Bianchi had informed her about his coming — but the three children were. The boy with the afro and the horns was clearly from the Bovino famiglia. Everyone in the mafia recognized about Ranking Fuuta, and knowing her son Nana could easily see Tsu-chan rescue Fuuta from thugs. The Chinese girl was an unknown factor, although it would probably be quite a story.

Nana raised a brow at her son, who got the hint and began explaining the events of the past week.

"Welcome back mama. I hope you enjoyed your trip at the spa-resort. The new faces are Reborn, Lambo, I-pin, and Fuuta. Bianchi brought Reborn in as our second teacher." Tsuna said with a smile.

"Ciaossu Knifing Fox. You are the last person I expected to settle down as a proper housewife." Reborn smirked.

"Really reborn. Who says I've become proper? Besides, how else would I have gotten my adorable Tsu—chan?" They quickly fell back in their old patterns of greeting, teasing each other for a couple of minutes until Tsuna coughed to regain their attention.

Tsuna pointed at the boy with the afro. Nana absently realized he was wearing an onesie with cow print. "This is Lambo. The Bovino threw him out under the pretence of a suicide mission so we adopted him in your name. I hope that's not a problem."

Nana shook her head, already busy plotting the demise of the Bovino. To throw out a precious child…!

Tsuna continued. "I-pin tried to assassinate me after a mix-up due to her near-sightedness. We all agreed that the Triads are no place for five year olds and have adopted her as well. I literally tripped over Fuuta, who was running away from some thugs, and ended up adopting him as well. Haru and Kyoko have stayed here with me the past week to look after them, but we figured you might want to mother them."

Nana squealed. "Thank you so much Tsu-chan! You've given three children! The little dears look like they could use a stable home and a loving family. Oh before I forget, here's a little present."

Nana placed a plain box on the table. As Tsuna opened the box, seven rings were revealed. Each one had only half a crest.

Tsuna had to ask. "Mama did you actually visit the spa-resort?"

Nana giggled girlishly. "Of course I did, Tsu-chan, after I paid a visit to your father's office that is. Don't worry, I swapped them with some very convincing fakes I just happened to have lying around."

Tsuna sighed. "Well, I suppose that's one way of solving that particular problem. At least now we can focus on training."

At that point everyone had finished eating and went to their respective training grounds. Over the course of the week Colonello en Gokudera had arrived. At first things had been somewhat strained between the siblings, because Gokudera could barely look at Bianchi without getting violently ill. However, a special biscuit from Tsuna had resolved the issue, and the siblings had had their first meaningful talk in years. This resulted in a much better relationship between the two and a very grateful Gokudera.

Neither had joined brunch, because they were preparing a training area and completing some dastardly paperwork respectively.

Reborn's other colleague had arrived the day before. As it turned out, I-pin had been his apprentice and he was very thankful that they gave her a loving home. At the moment he was making sure that the Chinese Triads knew their place and would try to come after her. When he returned he would take Hana and Gokudera under his wings.

Less than three months remained until the inevitable confrontation with the Varia and they could only hope to survive with all limbs attached.

* * *

Kyoko considered her options. Nana had just ended their lesson, which had been very satisfying though tiring. In the past month she'd been thought how to make her illusions so subtle they were undetectable and thus nearly unbreakable. She'd also been taught how to read her opponent's expectations and use those against them. People believed what they wanted to believe after all.

Tsuna's mother had also helped her with her physical fighting skills. Kyoko could now last more than ten minutes in a hand-to-hand match against Hibari-san. Even now the older boy instilled so much respect and fear into them that only Tsuna used his first name without fear of consequences. Though that also might have to do with the prefect's infatuation with their leader. And really, who could blame him? Tsuna was just way too pretty and feminine. It was such a pity he didn't really care about cute skirts and dresses.

Kyoko giggled at the thought. If Hibari-san ever saw Tsuna in a dress, he'd be hard pressed to keep his hands to himself, or — Kyoko full out laughed — contain his blood nose. It be the perfect wake-up call for Tsuna. She swore he was more oblivious than a rock. He just didn't see the admiring glances thrown his way every time he set foot outside of the door.

Hibari-san would have some serious competition, if Tsuna had friend zoned all the boys immediately. Luckily for Hibari-san Kyoko had gone through the trouble and danger to make it look like Hibari-san's shirt had caught fire on accident and making sure a pond had been nearby. At the very least it seemed to have awoken a crush on Tsuna's side, but both were too stubborn to confess on their own.

Hopefully Hibari-san would see Xanxus as enough of threat to publically stake his claim. Otherwise Kyoko would have to continue her machinations and that could prove deadly should Hibari-san find out prematurely. Still, Kyoko would have her 1827 ship, whether they liked her tactics or not!

'Oh!' It seemed she had been so lost in thought that she'd wandered into Kokuyo Land by accident. The old amusement park was utterly ruined after years of neglect.

Kyoko shook her head as something itched at the back of her mind. It felt almost familiar. And as she _poked_ the spot, she realised just what it was. Someone was trying to trap her in an illusion! Giggling, Kyoko rejected the other reality, effectlively breaking the illusion. She sensed people running away, towards the centre of the park. Unable to control her curiosity, she ran after them in true Sasagawa style.

The mist-user, who'd tried to trap her, was very skilled and subtle. Some might even call them a master. However Kyoko was the proud disciple of Knifing Fox herself. Nana liked to put her under all kind of illusions in the name of training, and she often did it at extremely awkward moments. Not breaking them wasn't really an option when you're in the middle of PE or swim class.

Kyoko's chase came to an end at one of the rundown buildings. To the rest of the world she looked as perfect as ever: not a hair out of place and even breathing. Certain her prey had entered this place, she slowly made her way inside, caution taking over. It wouldn't do to injure herself because of the uneven flooring.

Once again an illusion tried to overtake her common sense, urging her towards to top floor as fast as she could. She pushed it away like an annoying fly, though she followed its direction. Her quarry must have hidden there and was using illusions to set up an ambush. She called forth her sweetest, most innocent expression and carefully made her way through the rubble. Such a strong opponent to play with! She wondered if Tsuna would allow her to keep them. Another strong mist would make an excellent addition to spar with.

Reaching the top of the last set of stairs, Kyoko skipped to the only door. "Time to play!" She giggled to herself.

As soon as she opened the door, shaking of another of those pesky illusions, a shape came flying towards her. Dodging, she identified the shape as a teen with a strange set of teeth and spun an illusion around him. It made him think she had fled downstairs and he rushed down to follow. Some odd sounding music had her ducking to avoid an explosion and she swiftly trapped a girl with a clarinet. The illusion consisted of horrible, extremely loud noise that had the girl falling to her knees.

Scanning the room, she counted three people left: a boy with yoyo's, a muscular adult and the mist-user. He seemed determined to incapacitate her, spinning illusion after illusion, each one stronger than the last. Putting the other two to sleep, Kyoko opened her parasol. It was time to get serious. The mist-user, strange hair and mismatched eyes, realised that as well as the ground began to crumble and poisonous snakes closed in on Kyoko.

Laughing Kyoko filled the room with water and send sharks after the pineapple boy. Countering illusions with her own, a battle of wills broke out between the two mists. Kyoko made sure to keep moving through the room, and occasionally even erased her presence completely. This never failed to throw the other off. Finally she saw her chance and knocked the boy out with a solid hit from her parasol to the back of his head.

Leading the fanged teen up and putting him to sleep, she tied up all the people in the room with some rope that was very conveniently lying around. Just as she was done and admiring her handy work, Tsuna stormed in with Reborn on his shoulder. Kyoko grinned. Now she didn't have to look for him to start her interrogation.

"Tsuna! I was just going to look for you." Pointing at the boy with the pineapple hairstyle, she asked, "Look, this one is a talented mist. Can I keep him?"

Tsuna couldn't resist the urge to face palm. Sometimes he wondered about his friends's sanity, and his own for going along with it, because this could be described as a pretty normal situation for them. "Do you even know if they agree to that plan? No wait. Do you even know their names?"

"Nope. Let's ask them." With those words Kyoko dismissed the illusion and slapped the mist awake. Tsuna prayed for some sense, from anyone! And Reborn simply watched, amused by the events.

"Hello. Excuse me, but I didn't catch your names while we fighting. I'm Sasagawa Kyoko." Kyoko asked, very sweetly and very politely.

Feeling apprehensive at being treated so nicely after being bested even after going full-out, Mukuro decided to answer the mist's questions. He did not want to find out how well this mist's creativity was suited to torture. He didn't have much choice anyway, being tied to the others and horribly outclassed by this wisp of a girl.

He looked over the mist's companions briefly, before refocusing. The pretty girl looked exasperated at her friend and the baby stayed in the background. So Mukuro started to introduce himself and his group, and before he realised what he was doing he'd spilled the whole sordid tale. He told them about the Estraneo and their experiments, his revenge using Lancia, the Vindice and finally their escape.

The mist looked horrified, while her pretty friend had fury as well as sympathy in her eyes. Even the baby, which he now recognized as a cursed infant, furrowed his brows.

The pretty girl stepped forward, gracefully sinking to her knees in front of Mukuro. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, and in some circles I'm know as heir to the Vongola."

They all hissed in disgust and struggled against their bindings. After what happened none of them wanted anything to do with the mafia.

The girl ignored their protests and continued. "What happened to you was disgraceful, outrageous. A crime of all crimes. I have doubts of my own concerning the mafia, and my famiglia especially. When, not if, I become Decimo, I will raze Vongola to the ground and bring it back to its roots: a vigilante organization."

The fugitives stopped their struggle and looked at her in disbelief. Those were big words for a girl their age.

"Kyoko is impressed with your abilities, which has not happened before, and your story touched me. We will and can protect you from the mafia. Will you let us?" Her smile was brighter than the sun, but Mukuro had seen to many honeyed traps to fall for this one.

"Big words. The question is: Will you be able to follow through? You are just one girl. And a small one at that. Besides why should you care about us? We are scum, even amongst scum." Mukuro scoffed. He ignored the pinches and hits from his allies. They might fall for her empty promises, but he would keep them safe.

Sawada opened her mouth to answer him, probably more of the same inane drivel, but then the shadows darkened and from them three people stepped into the room. The long capes, high hats and bandages effectively disguised their appearance, as they identified their alliance. An aura of dread followed them around making Mukuro's companions whimper. In their hands they held chains ending with shackles, which closed around the hogtied group.

"Who are they?" Tsuna whispered, though he desperately wanted to shout.

"The Vindice, guards of Vendicare and enforcers of the mafia law. Their justice is absolute. Do not do anything foolish, Tsunayoshi!" Reborn warned, only experience allowing him his normal volume of speech.

Something inside of Tsuna broke and it pushed down the fear rising in him. "Justice! You call punishing children, who have been driven to their limits and broken beyond recognition, justice? I already knew the mafia was rotten to its core, but this… There are no words to describe this wrongness, this _injustice_! This isn't right!"

The Vindice turned to Tsuna as one and spoke. Even their voices were filled with dread and anguish. It was the sound of the dead. "You have a problem with our judgement, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna couldn't help but shake like a leaf caught in a storm. Still, he had promised Mukuro that he could protect them, and so he would. He turned fully and raised himself to his grand 5'5 as he steeled himself for what was coming.

"Yes. Mukuro told me why he and his friends were condemned to your prison, and sure he probably forgot to mention a whole lot of details. But nowhere in his tale did he make any mention of the Vindice punishing the Estraneo for their experiments. The same experiments that drove this people to do whatever it is you want them for. Children are sacred! They should be loved and protected. Can you really blame them for their actions? If you had any semblance of a heart, you wouldn't. They are mine now, my family, and I will protect them. Even from you!"

Tsuna was panting from his outburst, yet he felt strangely free at the same time. His courage could, would cost him direly, but not doing anything would have been even worse.

The Vindice laughed, not a pleasant sound by any means. "And if we demand your life in exchange, child?"

"Tsuna, don't!" Kyoko gasped out.

"Damnit, how much of a fool are you, Sawada?!" Mukuro scoffed, horror clear in his voice.

"I told you not to do anything rash child!" Reborn scolded.

"My opinion of you would sink lower then I ever thought possible. But they are my family now, and I will do anything to protect my family and keep them safe." Tsuna's voice didn't even waver, even if his courage did.

The Vindice laughed again. Louder this time and longer, until the sound filled the entire room. Tsuna stood his ground, if only because he didn't think he could move without fainting. He'd do it, he would get through this horrible situation one way or another.

"You truly are a brave and utterly foolish child. But, you have convinced us. The prisoners are yours and we won't even take you in return. Don't be surprised though, if the boss wants to have a word with you. You are a breath of fresh air in this rotten fighting ground. Very refreshing." Once again the Vindice disappeared in the shadows and Tsuna sagged to the ground. His courage and adrenaline were gone. He smiled through Kyoko's, Reborn's, and even Mukuro's scolding and kept doing so all the way home. His family had grown again and everyone was safe. Nothing else mattered.

* * *

"Tsunayoshi." Tsuna looked up from his book to Mukuro and a girl who could pass for Mukuro's twin. It's been two weeks since his face-off with the Vindice. The teens had fit in remarkably well — Lancia had gone his own way — and although they preferred to ignore anything mafia related, they hadn't passed up on decent training and sparring.

Mukuro and Kyoko had frightening illusion competitions now Mukuro was getting actual instruction. Ken and Ryohei were like two peas in a pot when it came to fighting, while M.M. and Haru liked to design to together with Tsuna as their preferred model. Chikusa, the calmest, found himself intervening between Hana and Gokudera so often, he joined their spars just to spare himself the trouble of having to get between them when it inevitably got out of hand.

"What do you want this time, Mukuro? Found your long lost twin?" Tsuna asked with no small amount of sass.

"Very funny, Tsunayoshi. This is Chrome. She was hit by a truck and I had to replace her internal organs until she can do so herself. She has nowhere to go so I thought you might want to welcome her into the family." Mukuro explained.

"Why do I have a tendency for taking in strays? Anyways, welcome to the family, Chrome. I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. Please call me Tsuna. Mukuro, show Chrome to mama and introduce her to the rest, will you? I need to learn this book by heart by tonight or Reborn will extend my house arrest until the Varia arrive." Tsuna ordered.

"Kufufufu. Very well Tsunayoshi." Mukuro ushered Chrome to the kitchen.

Tsuna's punishment for his recklessness was a month of house arrest and extra chores. No one could quite believe he'd actually gone against the Vindice, especially once Kyoko used her illusions to recreate the scene.

The Vindice were feared by the whole mafia, no exceptions. Their word was law. None of his protests had made any difference and all of them had been on edge for some time. Kyouya-san especially had been very brusque and possessive. One night Tsuna had even dreamed that Kyouya-san had been sitting on his windowsill. But that was wishful thinking, right? No way that someone as awesome Kyouya-san would be interested in Tsuna.

Tsuna shook his head to escape his treacherous thoughts. All in all life was pretty good in Namimori. They'd better enjoy it too, because the Varia would arrive pretty soon, and peace and quiet would be scarce for a long while.


	8. Confrontations

A calm breeze ruffled the leaves lying on the empty street. Most residents of Namimori were enjoying their Sunday afternoon elsewhere as the weather was surprisingly pleasant for mid September. Nothing indicated that the peace and quite wouldn't last.

"Voooooi!" Except for the loud Mafiosi that had just arrived, that is.

"You shitty brat! Keep those knives away from me!" A tall man with strangely long hair screamed at a blond teenager, whose bangs covered his eyes.

"Shi-shi-shi. A mere commoner can't order the prince around." The teen replied, fingering a wicked looking knife.

"Shut up, trash, or I'll help you keep your mouths closed." Both guardians stopped their quarrel immediately. The boss had been very clear in his commands, and the punishments should they ignore those commands. No weapons were allowed, they'd keep their voices down and the squabbling to a minimum, or he'd personally teach them a lesson.

Sure, they understood the importance of not scaring the boss' future wife away, but that didn't mean they liked it. That was how they dealt with each other and their own energy. Without it they had now way of releasing that building energy. It made them worse than five year olds with ADHD on a sugar rush having to sit quietly on a chair for half an hour.

They sincerely hoped the girl would not be living at the Headquarters in the future, or they'd become stir-crazy and the boss would have a mutiny on his hands. She'd have to deal and become used to their particular brand of crazy sooner or later, since they were to stay here for a year. Thankfully this shitty village was surrounded by woods and a mountain range on one side, so they'd be able to work off some of the pent-up frustration that was building already.

Arriving in the correct street, they saw a band of teens standing in the middle of the road, clearly waiting for them. As they got closer, they were able to discern the leader as Sawada Tsuna, the very girl they were here for. She looked put out, but also determined and confident. A longhaired girl stood at her right shoulder — left from their position — and an aloof looking boy flanked her left side. Behind them were four other teens, two boys and two girls. Had they not know any better, they'd say a sky and her guardians were waiting for them.

Sawada took the initiative. "Xanxus, my guardians and I have obtained the Half Vongola rings. I hereby challenge you to the Ring Battles to obtain the right to take the Vongola Trials, as is my birthright."

Xanxus was stunned that his wife would have such a pair of lady balls, but hid it well under condescension. "Hn, everyone knows girls are only good for childbearing and keeping the household. The Famiglia will never accept a female boss, nor will I for that matter. I suggest you prepare yourself for our wedding. If you're well-behaved, I might even let you keep that ragtag band of friends." He kept his language clean, still under the impression it would matter to his bride.

The boy on Sawada's left was baited by Xanxus' words, but Sawada's hand on his shoulder calmed him down and he fell back again.

"Too bad. I'm not giving up my half of the rings and I can easily get the other half. So if you want them, you'll have to fight us over it. I'm no one's bitch and most certainly not your property. Prepare to lose." Sawada declared, brimming with confidence.

Two pink haired girls appeared, as if they'd been waiting for that statement. As one they spoke. "We are the Cervello. We have judged Sawada Tsuna's claim valid and will preside over the Ring Battles as unbiased judges. The first battle, that of the Sun, will take place at Namimori Middle's schoolyard tonight at 9 o'clock. Do not be late. Failure to show up at the correct time will result in immediate disqualification and an automatic win for the opponent. No violence of any kind may precede this event or any others, or the guilty party will be disqualified and lose their ring to the other side."

As quick as they had appeared, the masked girls disappeared again.

"Vooooi! How did you f*ckers get your hands on the rings?!" Squalo couldn't contain himself anymore. This was so far from their expectations it wasn't even funny. Sawada merely tilted her head and smiled sweetly. A background of giant flowers completed the adorable picture.

"We stole them of course. CEDEF should really up their security. Now if you'd excuse, we really don't have the time to linger and exchange insults. Things to prepare, people to inform. You know the drill." She said kindly.

No, they didn't know. But as they were sputtering out protests, the group of teens split and turned so Sawada could take the front on the other end and they walked away.

The Varia looked cautiously at their boss. Xanxus wouldn't be happy with such a blatant act of defiance and disrespect.

And indeed, he was furious with the girl. She'd made an utter mess of their meticulous plans. At the same time however, she had intrigued him. Sawada had had the guts to defy him in such a public and irreversible way. Winning her over would be a challenge he wouldn't miss for the world. She may actually be worthy of becoming the Varia's big sister, his wife in more than just name. Yes, he looked forward to crushing her completely and owning her, body, heart, and soul.

* * *

In Hibari's living room in the opposite end of town, a very divers group had assembled. Three were babies, one was only nine years old, thirteen were a varied mixture of teens, and only two actually had an adult body. (Lambo and I-pin had gone on a play date/sleepover with friends.)

They were busy making plans, going over strategies for that evening, and discussing the events of that afternoon. Things could have gone so much worse and having the Cervello show up was an unexpected, but very pleasant surprise. Some individuals — cough Hibari cough — had expressed some concern over the school buildings, but Nana and Bianchi had assured them that the mafia would never risk exposure in such a way and that the buildings would probably be the only things coming out of these battles unharmed.

Ryohei was first up, against Lussuria. The Sun of the Varia was a martial expert and next in line as their strategist. Nana was able to tell them that his favourite style was Muay Thai and that he had a metal knee, which he liked to use on unsuspecting victims. Fuuta ranked Lussuria as the number one flamboyant gay mafioso with necrophilia, making everyone laugh and cringe at the same time.

Ryohei assured them that he wouldn't lose, since Colonello-sensei and Ken had helped him to improve a lot. He wouldn't disgrace his family by losing their first match. Tsuna smiled at his declaration, but told Ryohei that nothing would ever make them hate him.

For some reason Reborn's chameleon, Leon, had produced a whole lot of strong fibre. It had been enough for Haru and M.M. to make fabric of and they had designed uniforms for everyone in their family, even the Acrobaleno. The boy got suits with shirts and ties in their respective colour, while the girls and Tsuna exchanged the shirts for tunic and the ties for chokers. The tunics reached halfway their thighs with splits for mobility.

They all expressed their delight over the outfits, though many alterations were made. First off, none of the shirts were tucked in. Hibari attached his prefect cuff to one arm. Tsuna added a small black belt to sit on his waist and bring attention to his small waist. Takeshi, Gokudera, Mukuro and Ken popped off the first two buttons, so no one could make them button up to their necks. Takeshi also lost his tie and Gokudera added some chains to his trousers. Bianchi put on a pair of sensible heels, while Hana did her hair up in a practical, yet elegant braided bun with Kyoko's help. Reborn refused to give up his fedora and frankly no one dared to protest.

* * *

At a quarter to nine, Tsuna and his guardians arrived at the schoolyard of Namimori Middle. A fighting ring had been constructed in the middle of the open space. It was closed off with bars on four sides and a roof. In each corner hung a spotlight, none of which were light. Tsuna offered Ryohei a pair of sunglasses, which he declined. He would win this battle like a true man, without external help! Besides — Ryohei explained —, if the glasses were knocked, the shock of the blinding lights could cost him the match altogether.

Ryohei had come a long way from recklessly leaping into fights. He was able to strategize before charging in and his extreme fighting skills were almost on par with Hibari. But most importantly, he had found people worthy to dedicate his fight to. For his family his flames burned brighter, not accepting losing as an option. He'd also gotten a more gentlemanlike mind-set when it came to fighting, with boxing as the height of it. He would always fight fair, even in the face of extreme cheating.

Pretty soon the Varia, minus Xanxus, arrived as well. Xanxus wasn't interested in watching the battles of guardians, since he had confidence in the Varia Quality. His subordinates wouldn't lose from a bunch of teens. He had rescinded his earlier orders to behave, so they were a lively and disorderly group. They were certain of Lussuria's win against Sawada's Sun. The poor boy or girl would be some ten years his junior and would have no way to overcome such a huge gap of experience.

Precisely at 9 o'clock the Cervello arrived and both guardians were ushered into the ring. Ryohei had already discarded his vest and shirt and had put on his gloves, while Lussuria took off his long, feathered coat.

"Oh, my! Your body looks quite delicious from up close! You're totally my type, or you would be if you were dead!" he giggled.

Ryohei was slightly taken aback, but quick to retort. "What! I was so not expecting that you'd find ME attractive. Not that it matters. We are here to fight, so prepare yourself!"

As he took his favourite opening stance, Lussuria mocked his choice to box. It did nothing but strengthen Ryohei's resolve to prove that boxing was the ultimate gentleman sport and could best any other style in the world.

The Cervello quickly explained that the fight would go on until one of the rings, hanging around their necks, was taken by taken by the opponent.

Ryohei closed his eyes in preparation and was proven right in his decision as the spotlights were lit immediately after the start sign was given. They were so bright he could almost see through his eyelids and they heated up the ring slowly, but surely. Keeping his calm, Ryohei waited for his opponent to make a move.

Lussuria, whose eyes were shielded by his sunglasses, wasted not time to deliver a high kick to Ryohei's solar plexus. Or so he though, for a soon as Ryohei felt the air move he turned slightly and gave a mean left hook to Lussuria's chest, which threw the flamboyant man into the air.

Mostly unfazed by this Lussuria flipped forward and came down again. This time however his left knee was angled forward. It was this knee that contained the metal plate that ended so many fights before. What he did not expect was Ryohei's punch with his right fist, which was glowing, and the sickening crunch as fist and knee met. The impact splintered most of Lussuria's left leg and he fell on the ground cradling the leg to his body. Standing was not an option anymore.

"You shouldn't have underestimated me or my boxing. I go beyond the extreme to protect my family. I apologize for injuring you so badly, but I refuse to fight any longer under these extremely ungentlemanly conditions. I would be honoured to the extreme to have a real spar with you in the future!" With those words Ryohei pulled the necklace off Lussuria's neck and put the two halves together. Once whole, he place the Ring of the Sun on his right ring finger.

"Winner of the Sun Ring Battle: Sasagawa Ryohei. The Battle of the Lightning Ring will take place on the roof of these building tomorrow at 9 o'clock. Be on time." The Cervello declared before they took their leave.

Tsuna and the other guardians crowded Ryohei to congratulate him on his extreme win. Hana even went so far as to give him a kiss on the cheek, after which both looked away on embarrassment while the others cooed. The Varia gathered Lussuria, who had already started to heal his leg and left quietly.

* * *

"Explain to me, thrash, how you lost against a shitty teenager! Are you not Varia Quality?! Perhaps you should be taking lessons from inexperienced teens instead of calling yourself our martial arts expert!" Xanxus was foaming at the mouth, so furious he was. He had wanted a clean sweep, an irrefutable proof of his dominance, so he could show his bride just how futile, but adorable really, her efforts were. Instead a schoolboy had defeated his martial arts expert in under two minutes.

"He was Varia Quality as well, boss." For once in his life, Lussuria looked completely serious. "He even gave himself a handicap by wilfully blinding himself and still defeated me in two moves. He even thought to incorporate his flames from the start. I think he might be on par with Primo's Sun guardian, at least as far as I can compare them with what we know the tales. Nor would I be surprised if they had inside information. I purposely provoked him at the beginning of our match, but he wasn't shocked at all by my homoerotic necrophilia. They couldn't know such things unless someone familiar with the Varia told them."

Xanxus frowned. This was unanticipated and frankly worrying information. He had already suspected Poison Scorpion of betraying the mission and informing Tsuna of her birthright and what it entailed, but Poison Scorpion had nothing to do with the Varia and couldn't have given them this kind of information. He didn't like this at all.

"Levi, be extra cautious in your battle tomorrow. At this point anything can happen. I will attend as well, to form my own impression. If those kids are really Varia Quality, Tsuna may keep them around after our marriage and we will induct them into the elites." He barked at his Lightning Officer.

It didn't even occur to Xanxus that he might lose the whole thing after all. His arrogance prevented him from fully grasping the danger this one little girl presented. Levi on the other had nearly glowed when he heard his beloved boss would watch his match. There was no way he was going to lose now!

* * *

Tsuna's group had kept the partying to a minimum. Haru needed her rest and one battle didn't make a war. They had some ways to go yet. The Varia would be more cautious and prepared now. It wouldn't be easy, but they trusted Haru. She hadn't chosen scissors as her weapon for nothing after all. More than likely she'd play around a little, rather than end things quickly like Ryohei had done.

Haru's enormous love for children was countered by her equally big disinterest in all other human beings. Her family being an exception of course. For Tsuna she'd humiliate the Varia Lightening guardian and show the mafia that women were to feared far more than men. Haru giggled at the prospect of being able to go all out without there being any serious consequences!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who might believe I made Ryohei overpowered and the fight to one-sided, let me say this: in canon Ryohei won against Lussuria with little to no training and information. Here he has had both as well as some serious personal growth. He knows how to incorporate his flames and has received serious training from Colonel as well as weekly spars with Hibari. This Ryohei has got his shit together and is being underestimated a great deal by Lussuria. So yeah, he does win easily.


	9. It's raining bombshells

As Tsuna and his guardians reached the roof of Namimori Middle, They found Haru's opponent already waiting. Levi, short for Leviathan, had been ranked first in devotion to his boss by Fuuta and was known for accomplishing his mission very quickly. The parabolas he carried were capable of discharging enormous amounts of electricity and he liked to surround his opponent with them. They were a little worried about Haru, because only Bianchi had seen her training.

Haru herself was brimming with enthusiasm. Especially when she saw the circuit that had been placed on the floor of the roof and connected it with the storm brewing overhead. "Hahi, Haru can play around with real lightning now!"

"Voooooi! Is that little runt supposed to be your Lightning Guardian, Sawada? Even Levi can't f*ck this up!" The rest of the Varia had evidently arrived, this time with Xanxus in tow. He looked scornfully at the young girl Tsuna had deemed worthy as her guardian. She didn't look like Varia Quality at all. Levi was ruthless in his battles and Xanxus hated to see women hurt. It was a man's job to protect them after all. However the first guardian had proved to be more than he seemed, so perhaps this one wouldn't die immediately.

"Tsuna, does Haru have to abide any restrictions?" The girl was nearly bouncing as she awaited Tsuna's reply.

Tsuna gave her a bemused smile. "I'd prefer it if you didn't kill Levi-san, but I won't blame you should an…accident happen. Knowing how much you looked forward to this, I won't curb your enjoyment."

The Varia couldn't help but fidget a little at this odd dialogue. Their opponents were too confident, like their victory was set in stone. Besides that girl gave them the chills despite her adorable and hyperactive behaviour. Suddenly they weren't so sure about the outcome of the match anymore.

As the Cervello requested the contestants to enter the ring, a lightening bolt hit the spike in the middle of the circuit. Levi managed to jump up in the nick of time, but Haru stood her ground on one of the bars, enduring the shock with an air of absolute calm. Not a single hair was displaced. Neither group could quite believe their eyes. Any normal human would have been thoroughly fried by now.

"Hahi, is this all? Jeez and here I'd been slightly worried. But this didn't even filled up a quarter of my battery." She sighted, obviously disappointed.

"That was absolutely amazing, Haru! How did you do whatever it was you did?" Kyoko asked, admiring her friend's beautiful opening move. They were slightly less shocked than the Varia, having expected some crazy things, but they would like to know what had just happened.

"Hahi, these past months Haru has sought out every spark Haru could find! Haru has moulded her body to become a battery and use that electricity to up her offense! Yesterday Haru even hang from the high voltage lines to practice her pull-ups!" Haru told them enthusiastically.

Tsuna buried his face in his hands. Of course Haru would do something batshit crazy and incredibly dangerous. At least it would them the battle. Levi's parabolas were useless now and he could be hit by lightning at any moment, forcing him into a defensive position.

Quick as lightning, Haru crossed the circuit and slashed a Levi with something in her hands. Just as swiftly she was back in her starting position, showing her scissors charged with a green flame in her hands. Levi's parabolas and uniform were in tatters, hearts having been could out from them.

"Why you little piece of shit!" Levi bellowed and charged at Haru like an enraged bull. Haru merely darted around him, cutting with her scissors. When the two parted, it became clear Haru had given Levi a new haircut. His spikes were gone, replaced by a tidy buzz cut with more heart patterns and his chin was now cleanly shaven.

"Haru has just made the winning move, hahi!" Holding out her hand, Haru showed Levi's necklace and ring. Skipping out of the circuit, she put the two halves together. Behind her the Varia were unable to control their facial expressions enough to close their open mouths. Levi had never been defeated before, certainly not with Xanxus present and yet this little girl with her innocent expression had made short work of utterly humiliating him.

Across the roof, Tsuna pondered aloud. "Perhaps I should have mentioned that Haru, out of all my guardians, embodies her element the most. She is swift and destructive, and likes to shock people. Levi never stood a chance, if only because Haru can't abide losing. Only Kyouya-san wins against her these days and she always gets back at him afterwards. The fact she doesn't care about anyone who isn't a little kid or family only enhances her ruthlessness. This was one of our two certified wins, even before we knew anything about you." With that little piece of utterly shocking information, Tsuna turned to his family to congratulate Haru and without further ado they went home.

* * *

For a time the only thing Xanxus could do was rage. Two battle and two losses, seemingly without any effort on their opponent's side. This wouldn't do. He clearly had to raise his standards and put his guardians another training regime of Hell. When he finally calmed down enough to think rationally again, he turned to his subordinates.

"Anyone with any information at all on the other guardians? Because they'll all be Varia Quality at this point." He asked politely, or well as politely as he could.

Squalo stepped forward, as he'd expected. He wasn't their strategic genius for nothing and had to have picked up some things from observing the other group. "The Rain is a sword user, which is a pity for him and basically guarantees my victory. I won't underestimate him, but I really doubt he will be able to defeat me, the sword emperor! I'm surprised though at their confidence in each other. None of them wished the competing guardians good luck, meaning they didn't doubt they'd win. No way an ordinary bunch of kids could have gotten this far on their own though, so they must have gotten a teacher somewhere."

"So Reborn must have chosen sides, huh? It was to be expected really, but still somewhat disappointing. He is known after all for choosing underdogs and making them somewhat capable. Bel, you are next up! Go all out, destroy the f*cking building, I don't give a shit, but win trash! No more losses, from any of you!" Xanxus commanded.

"Shi-shi-shi. The prince was already planning to eviscerate the commoner who has dared to challenge him. Shi-shi-shi." Belphegor's assurances did little to comfort Xanxus. His plans were crumbling before his eyes and for the first time he acknowledged that he had severely underestimated his little bride. He would make sure it didn't happen again.

* * *

Hana was reading through Belphegor's file for the nth time. The little creep, or prince as he called himself, gave her the chills. He was bloodthirsty, homicidal and very easy to set off. As she was reading, she made sure her whip was in perfect condition. No need for nasty surprises.

She preferred peace and quiet while she prepared for her fight, so she had retreated to her home for the day. As much as she loved her family, they wouldn't know how to keep quiet if their life depended on it.

Knives and sharp wires weren't an ideal opponent for her, but at least the diamonds on her whip would give her some advantage. Her training with Gokudera had prepared her somewhat for a mid to long distance fight and Fon had drilled her until she could react at the slightest movement or pressure. Not that she'd ever lose to a monkey with an overgrown ego like him. She'd have to be careful not that draw blood though, as that seemed to be a big trigger and she didn't want him to snap.

Hana was startled out of her reverie when Ryohei entered her room, blushing like a tomato. She too began blushing, because she found Kyoko's elder brother really handsome and now that he'd matured emotionally he no longer classified as an annoying monkey.

"Hi Ryohei. Have you come to wish me good luck?" she asked.

"You don't need luck Hana. You've got this fight in the bag, I know it! You aren't our strategist for nothing." By now Ryohei was blushing so fiercely Hana feared that he'd get a sunstroke. Obviously steeling himself, he rushed out, "I actually came to tell you how extremely I love and admire you!"

Blushing fiercely, Hana sought desperately for some semblance of composure, but only found an anxious Ryohei staring intensely at her. "I like you too, you know. You're not a monkey like every other boy around here. I'd like to be your girlfriend.

Ryohei shone like the sun on a summer day. Taking her hand, he drew her to him and kissed her softly on the lips, which made them both blush again.

"Would you like to help me prepare for tonight?" Hana asked Ryohei.

"It would be an extreme honour, my beautiful flower! I have a present for you, something to make a difference tonight." Ryohei answered.

* * *

Hana had told the others she would meet them at school in time for her fight. Naturally when she and Ryohei turned up with joined hands, everyone either cooed or told them they had been taking their time. They might be teasing the new couple for a little while longer, but everyone was very happy for them. They had seen the affections growing between the two and there wasn't a soul who dared to disagree with Kyoko when she declared the two perfect for each other.

When the Cervello arrived, they revealed that the whole third floor would be used as that evening's battleground. Hurricane turbines had been installed everywhere and they'd have a time limit of 15 minutes.

Hana grinned in vicious satisfaction. She'd already decided that she'd end things as fast as possible. Drawing this battle out only had disadvantages and would only put her victory in jeopardy. Not to mention that she liked going straight for the jugular. And of course the monkey had to make some insulting comments on how he would defeat her, a commoner, easily, but she refused to take the bait. Instead she stated that a monkey with an overgrown head better steel himself or he wouldn't like the power she was going to bring to this battle.

As soon as the start sign was given, Hana ducked under the wind stream that turned on behind her and easily evaded the bunch of knives thrown in her direction. Cracking her whip, she severed the threads that were attached to the handles of the knives.

A complex acrobatic sequence had her in close range with Belphegor in a crouching position. Though his expression was partially obscured by his long bangs, he still seemed as apathetic as ever. He clearly didn't see her as a worthy opponent, though the knives kept coming.

'Not for long, you stupid monkey.' Hana thought as she closed her left hand around Ryohei's gift, while her right kept cracking her whip to fend of the knives. Finally getting close enough, she jumped up and delivered a massive uppercut to the pretend prince's face. The impact was so devastating she'd broken Belphegor's jaw and knocked him clean to La-La-land.

Turning around to her friends and boyfriend, she shrugged her shoulders. "Specializing in a long-range weapon doesn't mean I can't learn any other tricks from the spectrum. Thanks for the knuckleduster, love. It did indeed come in quite handy. Please forgive me for the pun."

Gathering their senses, her friends exploded in cheers and compliments. Hana smiled as she leaned in to kiss her boyfriend. She'd quickly come to love his strong arms around her. She'd accomplished a lot more today than she had expected. Her fight was supposed to have taken the longest of them all. And sure she had taken longer than Haru, but not by much. She'd gotten a handsome, compassionate and thoughtful boyfriend. To top it all off, the Varia was still dumbfounded that their battle genius had been crushed so thoroughly.

Hana was very familiar with the power of misconceptions and bias. She always tried to keep an open mind. Her logical mind made her Tsuna's rock when the others came up with another of their crazy ideas. She had been the first, and thus far only, to break Nana's illusion over Tsuna's gender on her own. All because she'd refused to take what she saw for granted like most did. She'd not forgotten Tsuna as boy, because she had pitied him and his miserable luck intensely. She had even tried to help him in innocuous ways, so she didn't alarm his bullies and make things worse.

So when everyone, including herself, accepted Tsuna as girl without protest, Hana knew something was up. It had required deep concentration, countless school pictures, and repeating to herself over and over that Sawada Tsunayoshi was a male, but finally something had popped and she was freed from the illusion.

When she'd told Tsuna about it, she had also stated that she didn't care what he identified with. If cross-dressing made his life easier, who was she to judge? Tsuna had been extremely thankful afterwards. She'd also nudged Kyoko to befriend him as well and his past lack of confidence still touched her deeply.

Hana had sworn to herself that she would never let anyone hurt this creature ever again and thus she became his right hand without even realising it. Since then she had been his sense of reason and stability as she angled the eye of her storm towards him.


	10. Thicker than water

Takeshi had started to adore, and even worship, Tsuna ever since the cross-dressing boy had reached out to him when Takeshi had been extremely depressed and suicidal. Because of a broken arm close to an important baseball game, Takeshi's so-called friends and teammates had abandoned him. He had felt that if he couldn't do the only thing he was good at, he might as well just … stop living.

Standing on the edge of the roof of the school, Takeshi had felt more along than ever before. Everyone had been calling out to him not to do it, but no one had actually tried to stop him. Then from one moment to the next, she had appeared. Completely out of breath from racing up the stairs to get there in time.

She'd told him no to, to think of the people who still cared, loved him. He had smiled, so fake and broken it was more of a grimace, and had asked who'd want a person without any worth.

"You are not worthless to me, Yamamoto Takeshi! You're broken arm will be healed before you know it. Besides, don't think I haven't seen you train before and after school. Don't think I haven't seen your alleged teammates make excuses and dump the bulk of training on you. Baseball is supposed to be a team sport! One talented player won't win his team the game. Quite the contrary as you yourself have proven, that player is pushed to their limits until they break and have to take rest.

Even if the whole world would spit you out, I will always accept you with open arms, just the way you are!" she had screamed, tears streaming down her face in frustration, anger and sadness. In that moment he'd fallen in total harmony with this wisp and he had discovered his true purpose in life: to protect and cherish her at all costs!

Thus when Tsuna assembled him and the others to inform them of the situation with the Varia, he had laid down his beloved baseball bat and had asked his father to teach him the ways of the sword. Hours of sweat, blood, and tears he'd dedicated to his little sister, the pillar of their family, his sky who accepts all.

His father had taught his the eight forms of the Shigure Shoen Style, withholding the last one until he'd reached true understanding. When Takeshi had told him that his opponent was Squalo Superbi, defeater of over a hundred sword style, he'd laughed long and hard. He'd told Takeshi that he clearly hadn't it's most basic concept if he believed that the Shigure Shoen Style could truly be defeated.

So Takeshi had trained harder, pushing himself to his limits, (or at least what he thought were his limits,) only to discover Shigure Shoen's true nature as he sat down, tired and despairing, to watch the summer sky.

Finally having grasped the concept, he too laughed. How true his father had spoken. Squalo Superbi might have defeated a master of the Shigure Shoen Style, but the style itself was undefeated. With just under a month to go, he too had become a master in his craft.

When the Varia arrived, Takeshi had been furious about the way their boss so casually insulted his sky and still expected everything to go his way. Tsuna was a goddess in comparison to them! The only words coming from their potty mouths should be prayers and worshipping! Ryohei, Haru and Hana had shown the Varia that they were not to be underestimated. He'd show them the true meaning of family and dedication to a sky, since they clearly didn't understand a thing about it.

Entering the school building that was supposed to be the next arena, they found the floors partially destroyed and water flowing freely from the top of the building. The Varia had arrived as well, arrogantly confident in this victory. All but the Rain Guardians were ushered out to watch the battle outside on huge screens. Hibari had to be reassured several times that the building would be repaired to every last detail by morning before he finally got to a manageable level.

Takeshi centred himself, seeking his inner calm. He had no time limit and no personal need to finish things off quickly. He wanted to savour his victory against the current sword emperor!

Squalo made the first move. He disappeared and Takeshi slid into the appropriate stance as Squalo attacked from behind. As the smoke cleared, the 7th form, defensive style of the Shigure Shoen was revealed. Riled up, Squalo send a huge wave towards Takeshi, which was deflected with the 2nd form, defence style.

"Heey brat, I don't f*cking know why you didn't attack me after defending, but you just lost your only chance of hitting me!" Squalo shouted at Takeshi.

Takeshi merely grinned before charging at Squalo. Just as the white-haired man was within reach, Takeshi changed his grip on his katana, resulting in a horizontal swipe in front of him. Squalo was thrown back, but stood without problem. He hadn't been hit by the 5th form, offensive style.

Squalo laughed and mocked. "That's your sword style? Let me tell you kid, I've defeated it long ago! To defeat the sword emperor, I went looking for the strongest fighters I could find. I heard about this Shigure Shoen Style, which was said to be passed on through generations. It was supposed to be a flawless assassination style, so I sought the successor and his apprentices."

Squalo scoffed, disgust and displeasure written over his features. "What a disappointment they turned out to be. All they had was 8 stances that were really just a f*king rip off of fencing! I defeated the lot of them easily!"

"You never fought a true, mature successor of the Shigure Shoen. Had you done so, you wouldn't be here. And if you were, you would be using the style, not mocking it. Until you discerning the true nature of the Shigure Shoen Style, you will never defeat it." Takeshi calmly defended.

"Real nature. What the f*ck are you talking about kid!" Squalo was visibly getting irritated.

"Guess you'll have to fight me, the successor of the Yamamoto Shigure Shoen Style, to find out. One last warning though, if you don't start taking me seriously I won't hesitate to kill instead maim." Takeshi laid down his challenge, as composed as he was at the start of the battle.

Both males ran towards each other at top speed. Squalo slashed horizontally, but Takeshi dodged. Only to be hit by a small piece of stone that had been swept up by the resulting waves. The pain barely even registered as he cut diagonally with his sword in his right hand before the blade quickly switched hands and he attacked Squalo directly. His attacked was parried however and he was thrown back. The power of Squalo's swing had briefly paralysed his left hand.

"Voooooi! Stop holding on to your pitiful sword style! I already told you that the successor showed me all eight stances! I slayed him as he released the 8th form, offensive style akisame!" Squalo screamed in frustration. The kid should have been a beginner, defeated in under two minutes. Yet the battle had been going for a solid five and so far they were pretty evenly matched.

Takeshi simply shook his hand to get rid of the tremors and gripped his sword before charging once again. Squalo jumped over him, wanting to attack from behind, but Takeshi's sword found him in the air and slashed his chest.

"So Squalo, what did you think of _my_ 8th form, offensive style shinotsuke ame." Takeshi asked politely.

"What! There's no f*king way that was the Shigure Shoen Style!" Squalo was getting more and more confused as the fight went on.

"But it is! For the practitioners of the Shigure Shoen Style succession means change. The seven forms are shown but once, sometimes the eighth as well, if the successor isn't considered truly worthy. When the apprentice becomes master, they develop their own 8th form. The own I just showed you was my father's. So you see, while you did defeat a Shigure Shoen Style, you will never defeat _the_ Shigure Shoen Style. _That_ is it's true nature. Now let me show you my own style, the form that will make the style unrivalled and completely flawless." Takeshi explained.

Slashing his sword swiftly, Squalo send two huge waves towards Takeshi to keep him unfocussed and to obscure his line of sight. Attacking fiercely he forced Takeshi into a defensive position. Until the teen suddenly disappeared.

Realizing he must have gotten behind him, Squalo twisted partially to cut right through Takeshi, only to see that the real Takeshi had been in front, and above, of him all along.

Takeshi finished his jump with a downward swipe and landed with the other half of the Rain ring in his hand. Turning to his fallen opponent, he smiled sadly.

"Don't misunderstand, I admire your skills enormously. But I can not, will not, abide an empty sword. Not once in this whole battle, did I feel your true dedication to your sky. You obviously respect him for his strength, probably even fear him, but skies are meant to be _loved_ by their guardians. As a sibling, a parent, a friend, or even a lover." He stopped briefly to breath before continuing as passionately as before.

"Our sky is the only person who will wholly accept us, flaws and all. They don't care about our worth, or our abilities. Just us, our happiness, and wellbeing. They stand up for us when everyone else has given up, has thrown us away. In return we protect them against the world."

Takeshi was a on a roll now, finally expressing his frustration about the whole Ring debacle. "That's why you lost today and why none of the Varia will win any of the Ring Battles. Our sky beats your sky. Seems petty and childish to say it like that, but it's the truth. Any of us would give our life for Tsuna, because she doesn't expect or even want such a thing from us. She accepted all of us into her family, unconditionally. She never asked anything in return, not even our love. She is our conviction!"

Helping Squalo up, Takeshi dragged him towards the exit. He didn't like the atmosphere of this place and respected the fellow swordsman too much to let him die here.

Stepping outside, he saw Tsuna running towards him, tears glistening in his big doe eyes. Bracing himself for impact, Takeshi easily caught his little sister in a hug. It didn't take long before the other guardians joined the group hug. Even Hibari took part. All expressed their love and devotion for their little sky as the Varia — Squalo had literally pulled himself together — looked on.

Hibari glanced towards them and saw that Xanxus wasn't very happy with the arrangement. Good, he wasn't happy with Xanxus either. Time to stake his claim, before the irritating carnivore got anymore thoughts of stealing his mate. Gently extracting Tsuna for the heap, he pressed his little one to his chest and turned to the Varia.

Tsuna's stammers of complaint were ignored — He wasn't blind or deaf, just taking his time! — as he growled possessively "My mate!" and caught Tsuna's lips in a surprisingly gentle kiss. His little mate didn't even struggle, just gave in and let him ravage those sweet lips and mouth completely.

Ignoring the cheers and cooing from his family and the roar of rage from Xanxus, Hibari scooped his Tsuna up in his arms and jumped away, heading for his home. No doubt he'd have to endure cooing, threats, and enquiries from Nana, but this would give him a head start to ask mama for permission. Also, it would get his little one out of the way when Xanxus began his tantrum. No need to expose Tsuna and his gentle disposition to such a thing.

Tsuna just curled up closer to Kyouya. He was blushing furiously, but mostly very happy that Kyouya had finally made his move. He had been waiting for this moment ever since he'd first seen Kyouya coming out of a fight. He'd looked so fearsome, yet tender as he assured the nesting mama bird, which he'd been protecting, that everything would be all right.

To Tsuna, Kyouya was the silent protector of everything cute, fluffy, and innocent. Still recovering from the extreme bullying, he'd formed an instant crush that had only grown in intensity and depth. For Kyouya Tsuna had grown strong, so he'd be able to stand at his side one day and protect his family as Kyouya had done back then.

* * *

Back at the school, Xanxus was so furious at the perceived betrayal of his bride, he was foaming at the mouth. His guardians had moved away from him, not wanting to be caught in the upcoming blast.

"Maa, maa, no need to get so worked up about Hibari-san finally staking his claim. This has been a long time coming. Tsuna has had a crush on him, since she was like 8. And when she welcomed Hibari-san into the family that same year, he must have seen something special in her as well. They've been dancing around each other ever since. 'Sides Tsuna is never going to marry the likes of you." Takeshi's statement did nothing to diffuse the situation, but then he hadn't meant to.

Hana backed him up. "Takeshi is correct. Tsuna would only ever marry for love and even then her husband would have to always respect her and her wishes. She was never yours to begin with, so build a bridge and get over it."

The teens turned as one and left Namimori Middle.

* * *

At home they found Hibari-san with —a still blushing — Tsuna in his lap. Nana and Bianchi were alternatively squealing and interrogating him about his intentions. They seemed to find his answers acceptable however and the focus soon shifted to Takeshi's defeat of Squalo, the sword emperor.

The festivities somehow turned into a slumber party, which lasted until early the next morning. As Nana gracefully made her way between the sleeping children scattered on the floor, her gaze lingered on Hana and Ryohei spooned together, Gokudera in Takeshi's grasp and lastly on her sweet Tsuna lying partially on Kyouya.

They were all so adorable and innocent together. Looking up to the first rays of sunlight, barely visible on the horizon through the large window, she promised she would defend that purity at all costs. Until her dying day, she'd bask in it, let is take the edge of the wounds made by everlasting sins.

Soon, she decided, she would have a talk with the Varia and her husband and his boss afterwards. This farce had gone on long enough.


	11. Trickery and steps forward

"Kyaaa! Hibari-san and Tsuna look so cute together!" Kyoko giggled as she spied on the happy couple with her custom made binoculars. Taking her list, she studied the ships she wanted to accomplish. 3387 and 1827 were already ticked off and she was sure that Gokudera would soon give in to Takeshi. Of their original group, only she and Haru hadn't found love yet. Though considering Haru's recent disappearances with M.M., it might not stay that way for long.

Kyoko sighed deeply. Such was the curse of mist-users. Their extremely quick and imaginative brains meant that most people couldn't keep up with all the ideas floating through their heads. Hana and Gokudera were strategic geniuses in their own right, but even they couldn't match the amount of ideas that went through Kyoko's mind on a daily basis. Her ditzy front wasn't a complete lie. Focussing on only one thing was very difficult for Kyoko, and Nana, who was basically the inventor of the ditzy and naïve facade.

Shipping helped somewhat. Imagining all the different ways one couple could get together was almost enough to satisfy her daily quota. Plotting on how to speed things along did it's job nicely as well. Of course, now that her list was coming to an end Kyoko had to find more shipping options if she wanted to keep a semblance of sanity.

Her thoughts strayed once again to her own empty love life. Nana had settled for Iemitsu, who lived in his own reality and was absent a lot. She did love him, but he would never be able to grasp Nana's true self. This pained Kyoko, because Tsuna's mother had become their mama too and Nana was so kind and full of goodness that Kyoko wanted the best for her.

Kyoko had already decided never to settle. Either she'd find someone, who understood her completely and could keep up, or she'd become the group's spinster aunt, who'd spoil the kids and lived life by the drop.

"Kufufufu, deep in thought, Kyoko-chan? Are you perhaps worried about your face off with the mist Acrobaleno tonight?"

Mukuro had appeared next to her, as was his wont. Ever since Nana had saved him and welcomed him into the family, he had taken to following her around. Training with Kyoko under Nana's instruction had brought his abilities on par with hers. Though, he was heavier handed in his approach, overpowering his opponent with his mist, where Kyoko preferred extreme subtlety to the point where she was changing blades of grass to present the perfect illusion.

In mind they had always been equals, now he was able to keep up combat wise. Most of their spar these days ended in draws and Kyoko had sworn to herself that she would only ever lose to Mukuro.

"You know as well as I do that the acrobaleno won't pose a danger to me. Even Chrome can defeat him at this point, and she is nowhere near our level, for now at least. I was thinking about curses and love," Kyoko said.

Mukuro sank into a comfortable position next to her. "So you already grasped the reality of our situation. I don't think anyone else quite understands just how difficult mists have it. We are like 5 year olds on a sugar and a boundless imagination. Only other mists will ever really understand us, and even then no two minds are exactly alike. I hated the Estraneo for what they did to me, but I hated them even more for not disabusing me of the hope that I might someday find someone who'd truly understand. Then I met you, and I knew… I knew you did."

While he'd been talking, Mukuro had turned towards Kyoko, leaning over to her. Although Kyoko could feel her cheeks burning, she stood her ground.

"You'll have to do more than that to win me over, you know. Unless you make a real effort, I won't even take you into consideration. I won't settle just because I think you're my only option," Kyoko told Mukuro defiantly.

"Then I'll simply have to convince you that you won't be merely settling, kufufufu." As quick as he'd come, Mukuro went off again.

Kyoko shook her head and blushed even harder. She had never even _considered_ the possibility before. So sure she'd been that Mukuro had zoned her as a friend and sparring partner, like she'd done with him. Clearly she had not been thinking straight.

Going over every interaction they'd had until now, she had to admit he'd made his intentions pretty clear from the start. She must have been very afraid of a potential disappointment to stubbornly ignore all the signs. Ah well, she had everything straight now. Time to concentrate on the file she had been provided.

Mammon, also known as Viper, was the current mist acrobaleno, making him immensely powerful. His appearance, age and gender were unknown, but since the Varia didn't allow females — officially anyway, no one looked twice if the other gender option was used on the application form —, she referred to him with male pronouns.

Fuuta had ranked him first as greediest member in the mafia and most likely to charge for absolutely anything. Reborn had also indicated that he had no physical combat abilities whatsoever.

Grinning, Kyoko began to plan her fight out. She would dedicate her victory to mama, as she couldn't get enough recognition in Kyoko's eyes.

* * *

The hotel the Varia were staying in had remained remarkably intact. After Xanxus's temper tantrum in his guardians had predicted that the hotel wouldn't survive the evening. It had however, because Xanxus had calmed down unusually fast and was able to look back on recent events with far clearer eyes than before.

As such his natural reaction was to go and brood in his room for the evening and most of the following day. They had underestimated the teens at first, that much was true. However, that Squalo had been defeated when he was serious, because of _dedication_ , was utterly mind-blowing. Xanxus still couldn't wrap his mind around it. By now he could admit, if only to himself, that he couldn't care less about the rings or having Tsuna as his bride.

These teens were fast on track to prove their superiority over the Varia, even if they had gotten lazy and comfortable. Strength he could respect, and should Tsuna win their fight, she would have his blessing to become Decima.

Xanxus knew he often behaved like a sexist pig towards women, though he blamed it on his childhood in the slums. Women didn't survive long there, unless they became whores and he downright despised the particular _profession_. He could respect a strong woman…in every way and mostly chose his conquests that way.

Nonetheless, despite her strength something in Tsuna called to his brotherly nature. If she'd manage to impress him, he'd be proud to call her little sister. At fourtheen, she was far too young for him anyways, and as a possessive male he could appreciate the claim her cloud had staked on her. He hadn't had the time really to fully consider her his. Besides, he usually preferred a more mature and voluptuous woman.

Thinking about strong women, his mind drifted to those in the Varia. He'd been forced to officially ban them after one had been called home from sensitive mission and had wrecked havoc when the reason turned out to be an arranged marriage of all things! If a women wanted to apply they crossed the box with other below gender and any female hygiene products in the bathrooms were given a firm blind eye. After all you never know when you might need a tampon. Damn useful when you had bleeding nose.

Thus he'd saved the problem, decreased his f*cking paperwork and prevented any more headaches when the women in question came harping to him about arranged marriages.

To put his guardians' minds at ease, he walked to the communal living room. As he sauntered in, his guardians looked up from their favourite game: poker. He seated himself between Mammon and Levi and gestured at his Cloud to keep on dealing.

Everyone shrugged, accepting the unfamiliar occurrence with their usual flippancy. So it happened that the Varia had their first real bonding experience with their Sky and had a very pleasant afternoon on top. Needless to say that the hotel was much less structurally sound when they were finally done and that Mammon went to his battle much richer than he'd been before.

* * *

When the Cervello bade the Mist Guardians to step forward in the sport hall, Kyoko twirled her open parasol and skipped forward, looking as ditzy as always. Mammon looked at her thoughtfully, analysing everything he could.

As ditzy as she looked, there was no way she would be any less skilled than her comrades. He doubted the flightiness was anything more than a façade, quite common in female Mists, but it worked well. Already Mammon could feel his defences lowering in the face of her apparent innocence. The parasol must be her _weapon_ , if it could be called such. He wondered what approach she would take, what kind of themes she preferred.

Kyoko erased her presence as soon as the start sign was given and spun an illusion around Mammon and the frog that would block their senses, being a bit more heavy handed then she was wont to do.

Mammon, taken aback by the unorthodox start, urged Phantasma to become an ouroboros, a snake biting its own tale, and flew up a few feet. At a save distance, he tried to break the illusion the girl had spun to make herself invisible, but found himself unable to. Every time he thought he had a hold on it, it slipped through his fingers.

In the mean time he kept having to dispel minor illusions that were thrown at him from all sides. They weren't difficult to deal with, but ensured he couldn't divide his whole attention to the invisibility thing. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain to the back of his head and fell on the floor. Not from several feet in the air as he expected though. Once lying down, he felt the illusion pinning him down, and knew he wouldn't be able to break this own. His head was spinning slightly.

It seemed like the girl had simply made him think he'd been flying, keeping him distracted from realizing the truth with those minor, pesky illusions. He had to give her kudos for subtlety and ingenuity. Her use of physical force was outrageous however.

Kyoko put the two halves of her ring together as she skipped back. The battle had been far too easy. Winning against another Mist with grand illusions was possible, but it took a long time. Sneaking around and weaving elusive and intricate suggestions in their head was much faster and far more elegant.

She preferred to keep her grand illusions as a means for entertainment. They worked perfectly to display her memories of certain events. And really, in a battle the most obvious fighters with big, flashy techniques were the first to be taken out. Sneaking got the job done in much less time and no one would even know about it until it had already happened!

Now the battle was over, Kyoko could turn her mind back to challenges for her suitor. He would prove his worth thoroughly before she told him that he had her heart already. He wouldn't want it any other way either.

Turning around one last time, she simply couldn't resist the temptation to taunt the Mist a little. "Ne, Mammon-chan if you ever decide you need some lessons on self-defense, you know where to find me. I won't even charge you for them."

The dark look Mammon gave her was exactly what she'd hoped for. Really people were far too easy to tease. The Mist acrobaleno surprised her with his answer though. Even if he had to visibly swallow his pride.

"I'll take you up on your offer. Shall we say tomorrow at ten?"

Kyoko grinned, another Mist to convert and a step closer to her personal goal. The day just kept getting better and better! "Sure! Meet me at the Hibari household. They have more room to train, what with their ginormous dojo, you know."

* * *

The next day had Kyoko and Nana waiting on the steps of the dojo, bright and early. Mukuro had declined, because he wanted to work with Chrome on stamina training that day. Chrome's skills were improving with leaps and bounds, but that meant nothing if she couldn't last long enough in battle. So doing laps around Namimori it was.

At precisely ten o'clock, Mammon appeared. Time is money after all. He'd had to throw away his already bruised pride last night, when he accepted the girl's offer, and he would see it through. He would come out of this whole ordeal as an improved version of himself, otherwise he'd be mocked forever by the other acrobaleno.

The older woman sitting next to Sasagawa was a surprise. She was obviously Sawada's mother, the resemblance was undeniable, but he had assumed Sawada Nana to be a civilian. He greeted the two women politely, seeing no need to piss off his instructor before they even began. He did throw a quizzical look at Sawada. She merely smiled sweetly in his direction as he followed them into the dojo, where Sasagawa sated his curiosity.

"Nana is my own teacher and for that reason I asked her to be present here today. She will be the instructor, I will be the test subject and sparring partner. Before you start objecting, Nana was well known as Knifing Fox in her active days. It is only thanks to her that I became as powerful as I am today," Kyoko explained.

Mammon could feel his brows disappearing in his hairline. Knifing Fox was a veritable legend in the mafia world. Reborn might call himself the greatest hitman, but he was nothing in comparison. Her presence certainly explained a lot of things. Like the theft of the Vongola rings from the CEDEF Headquarters. Acknowledging he couldn't have wished for a better teacher, he prepared for sheer exhaustion.

* * *

Kyouya had read through his file quickly, before turning back to his koneko, who was lying in his lap. His Tsuna loved to have his hair stroked, but wasn't hesitant to use his claws, just like a real kitten. Kyouya loved how that much power was contained in that small and delicate body. Tsuna was beautiful inside and out. He was so cute and cuddly, it woke Kyouya's innate protectiveness; yet strong enough to walk beside him.

As his kitten curled closer, Kyouya roused himself from his musings on how perfect his little mate was. He had waited long enough, he decided as he let his hands wander. Tonight would be a proper celebration, but for now he would let Tsuna become used to their new, intimate relationship.

* * *

The Clouds' battleground could easily be compared to a small military basis. It was surrounded by barbed wire, had cannons on each of the eight corners and was trapped to the noggins.

The less said about the huge Varia Cloud, the better. Some of Tsuna's guardians wondered why exactly Xanxus had chosen a military device fuelled by Dying Will flames as his guardian, but no one doubted Hibari-san's victory. He was their strongest fighter and his newfound relationship with Tsuna would no doubt result in a further boost of his power.

Hibari took of as soon as the start sign was given. In the blink of an eye, he was on the other side of the ring, not even having activated any of the movement sensors of the cannons. Gola Mosca was on the ground, split in two and one arm completely severed, as the cannons fired and the area went up in smoke.

As it cleared a tall person dressed in the standard Varia uniform became visible as they stepped out of the destroyed shell with a sledgehammer in their right hand.

"I didn't expect you to be this powerful, Hibari Kyouya. I am Xanxus' true Cloud, Beelzebub, and this will be your end!" The person spoke. It was impossible to decide their gender one way or another, they were that androgynous. Their hair was short for a girl, but their lips were slightly to full for a male. They had no true curves, yet stood rather affectedly and their voice was very cultured.

"You talk too much herbivore, for that I'll bite you to death." Hibari snarled back. Once again he moved faster than the eye could see. Only after another bout of smoke cleared up, could the audience see the outcome.

Hair and uniform in perfect condition, Hibari was busy putting his ring together. Beelzebub lay in the middle of the battlefield, still twitching a bit. His previously put together appearance had been destroyed and it was difficult to see any skin in between the bruises and open wounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> konkel = kitten


	12. A Sky torn asunder

On Sunday morning everyone was brimming with nervous energy as the Sky battle grew closer. They weren't worried about the outcome, however, just what it would turn out like. All week Tsuna's guardians had surprised and humiliated the Varia in different ways... And now it was up to Tsuna to go against Xanxus, who had yet to be defeated in a one-on-one battle.

At a quarter to nine, all involves were gathered on the playground. When the Cervello tried to explain that evening's rules, Xanxus rudely interrupted them.

"Tonight will be just between Tsuna and me, a true battle amongst Skies. The person who defeats their opponent and takes the other half of the Sky ring, gets to try their hand at the Vongola trials. You agree?" He barked at Tsuna.

"Couldn't have said it better myself. I will not risk my guardians in what should be a straightforward battle. This way I can give my all without risking them. Prepare to lose, Xanxus. I have fought too hard and long for this moment just to let it slip between my fingers. The mafia is in for a big change." Tsuna calmly replied.

Both entered the ring, Tsuna activating his flames and Xanxus pulling out his X-guns. When the Cervello gave the start sign, Tsuna charged towards Xanxus. Dodging the bullet shot at him,he punched Xanxus below the belt, flames causing extra impact.

Xanxus doubled over in pain, clutching his nether regions. All the males in the audience copied him, wincing in sympathy. Tsuna didn't hesitate to use Xanxus temporary lowered defenses and froze him in ice from the collarbone down.

Had Xanxus been able to kill with his glare alone, Tsuna would have been six feet under within seconds. Nonetheless his efforts to melt or pulverize the ice proved futile. At the age of fourteen, Tsuna had long since surpassed the Ninth boss in terms of raw power.

Tsuna gently lifted Xanxus's necklace over his hand, all the while mindful of the snapping jaws. He put the two halves together and slid the ring on his right index finger.

"Even if the ring would have accepted you as Decimo, I never would have. You're nowhere near ready to take on such an enormous responsibility. Take my advice on this one and get to know your guardians first. They are our reason for fighting, and winning. Our only task in life is to protect and care for our family, no matter what has happened to them. We accept those who have touched our heart, and we do so unconditionally.

I'm sure that's what happened to the Ninth when he adopted you. In that one instant of Harmonization you truly became his son in all but blood. Think about it Xanxus, and then do something about your attitude. It's unbecoming of an adult." Tsuna said passionately.

"You got a pretty big mouth on you. Don't f*cking tell me what to do. And you better make sure that the Varia finally gets a f*cking proper contract when you become Decima! We're f*cking done with cleaning up the Vongola's messes whenever they screw over another situation or need an opposing family eliminated." Xanxus groused out.

"Of course. I promise that contract will be written out tonight, if you agree to support me when I decide to tell the Vongola…"

They would never find out what exactly Tsuna wanted to tell the Vongola, for at that moment he spit out a mouthful of blood and fell down to the ground. A bullet had penetrated his body, missing his heart by mere inches. Following the course the bullet should have taken, everyone stared horrified at Reborn — who had yet to put his gun away. Hibari growled low in his throat, so Squalo took him into a secure hold while Ryohei and Lussuria ran towards Tsuna's fallen body.

"Explain yourself, trash!" Xanxus shouted wrathfully.

Reborn shushed them. "To undergo the Vongola trials, the candidate must have a near death experience whilst wearing the Vongola Sky ring. Tsuna fully understood this and gave me her explicit approval. Realizing how everybody would react, she even wrote it down so you wouldn't try to kill or maim me."

Beelzebub, having a degree in law and used to dealing with these kinds of documents, accepted it and swiftly read through it. "This does seem to be in order. Perhaps a warning next time, Reborn." He advised in a cultured voice.

"What next time? Besides had you been aware of what needed to happen, you might have tried to stop me. At the very least it would have resulted in a major argument, which we don't have time for. Don't completely heal her just yet, she must stay like this until she has been either accepted or rejected. If the latter happens, she might die anyways." Again he got glares from all around at his bold statements.

* * *

Tsuna groaned in pain upon waking. Reborn hadn't warned him about the immense pain he'd be in. Before he could centre himself, he was overwhelmed by a flood of memories. Revenge, Ambush, Eradicate.

"What are these…?" He asked in surprise.

"The Vongola's past sins," multiple voices said in unison. Tsuna looked up, seeing nine adults surrounding him.

"Murder, revenge, betrayal. An insatiable thirst for power… This is the bloodstained past of the Vongola famiglia. You are the holder of the Vongola Sky ring. Do you really have the resolution to inherit these past sins?" they asked Tsuna.

Tsuna fell to knees, overcome by the horrors featured in the memories he was shown.

"Don't turn your eyes away. This is your destiny as successor of the Vongola, as descendant of the First Vongola boss. These sins are the price we must pay to access the power we so desperately wish for. If you want great power, you must also inherit the history that comes with it," they spoke in unison.

"Power? This isn't power. Power is what we draw on to defend our family and take care of them. I see only corruption and misdeed in these memories. I will never accept these sins, or what you people turned the Vongola into. I will wipe out the Vongola _famiglia_ , and remake it into what it was meant to be. A vigilante organisation! The only power I need for that task is my family's support and approval, not this corrupted mess you're offering me!" Tsuna shouted.

The circle disappeared. Instead the former Vongola bosses had formed two lines leading up to a throne, with the Vongola crest on the ground between them. Seated on that throne was a male who could easily pass for Tsuna's more masculine twin. His name, of course, was Giotto, also known as Vongola Primo.

It was he, who spoke. "Your resolution has been unequivocally accepted. To flourish or perish, the decision is yours. Though I heartily approve of your resolve, Vongola Decimo. I have been waiting a long time for you. Now it's time to inherit…the proof of the Vongola."

* * *

Tsuna's body shone brightly between Ryohei and Lussuria, who had been keeping him on the brink of death. The wound closed and when Tsuna's eyes opened, they where bright orange.

"I have passed the Vongola trial. The Vongola is mine to do with as I please," Tsuna announced.

Xanxus grinned. He had come to respect Tsuna Sawada and would be proud to serve her. From a distance that is. The Varia rather liked their independence. "Glad to see you made it, trash. You had this lot worried for a while. Are you ready to start negotiations, Decima?"

Tsuna looked at Xanxus with an odd smile on her face. It was decidedly fox-like. "Actually Xanxus, I prefer being addressed as Decimo. I'm biologically male after all."

"What!" Xanxus, the Varia and Reborn stared bewildered at Tsuna.

"Whaddya f*cking mean you're a boy?! Your own father believes you're a f*cking female, while else would he have proposed a f*cking marriage?!" Xanxus shouted out everyone's questions.

"I'm really a boy, look no breasts."

Similar to the time with Bianchi, Tsuna lifted his tunic to show off his flat chest. Lussuria, who was standing closest to him, forcefully pulled the tunic down again, while Squalo couldn't help himself in the face of such shamelessness. "Voooooi! Don't you have any shame, showing your body to people like that?"

"Why should I be ashamed? Kyouya regularly tells and demonstrates to me that he considers me to be very pretty. It's no different from the pool, really," Tsuna answered nonchalantly.

Xanxus face palmed at Tsuna's obliviousness. "That's more information about you and lover boy than ever I wanted to f*cking hear. Huh, you're as pretty as any f*cking girl, heck you even pass for a f*cking girl when you're half-naked. So therefore no one but is supposed to see any part of your upper and lower body without any f*cking clothes on it. Even when you're swimming in the pool!

And you still haven't answered my f*cking question, Tsuna! Why does everyone, except for your guardians, consider you female? Why the heck do walk around in girls' clothes? And why did you tell us now?!"

"My mother put an illusion over my name that plants the suggestion I'm female in someone's head. The feminine appearance and clothes reinforce it. I don't really mind, because I deem myself neither gender and both at the same time. It's only a label after all and a fairly silly one at that. Plus, I like girls clothes way more than those meant for boys.

In the beginning, it was just to get the bullies of my back. Once I learned of the macho attitude in the mafia, I decided that if I was to become Decimo anyways, I might as well change it. Starting not only with the first gender neutral boss of a major famiglia, but also one who has a balanced gender division amongst his guardians," Tsuna calmly explained.

"I would have preferred to have been informed of this earlier, Tsuna," Reborn said sourly.

"And miss your hilarious reaction?" Tsuna shot back. "'Sides, it's not like it really matters, you know. Sometimes it just slips my mind, and I never remember whom I have or haven't told. Nor does it exactly register how people refer to me. Like I said: gender doesn't play a big part in my life, not like does for other people. So please don't blame me. Anyone part of my family could have let you in on the _secret_ and they didn't do so either. Now Xanxus, state your terms.

* * *

As it turned out, the Varia had gotten the really shitty end of the stick when they had been founded. Their independence existed in name only. The boss of the Varia decided which rules had to be obeyed, but the Vongola boss had to approve them before they had any binding power.

The Vongola boss also handed out many missions to the Varia, even if the squads were assigned independently, and failure to carry them out was met with severe punishment. Those missions mostly entailed assassinations of every rival of the Vongola and their allies, and clean up missions.

Because the Varia were part of the Vongola, they had no budget of their own and the flow of money was often used as a means to put pressure on the Varia. It disgusted Tsuna and his guardians to the core.

This new agreement rewrote the whole relationship between the Varia and the Vongola. It would become effective the moment the Ninth stepped down and Tsuna officially became Decimo.

Here's the general gist of it:

The Varia would gain true independence, complete with their own treasury. They would get the first pick of mission and be able to contract on their own, as long as they observed certain Rules. In return the Varia would become part of the war council together with CEDEF and Tsuna's guardians and support Tsuna's reign unconditionally.

Upon Tsuna's death the agreement would be reopened for negotiations. If the Varia were truly dissatisfied with the new boss, they were free to extract themselves from the Vongola and start their own famiglia. An unbiased judge would have to be appointed in such an event and claims from either side would have to be proven valid.

All in all, everyone was satisfied with the agreement. Though after several days of negotiating, Tsuna was ready to behead the first person to even comment on it. He was tired, hungry, and most importantly Kyouya-deprived. His cloud had taken his leave after the first hour of shouting, throwing insults around like they were candy, and utter chaos.

The only people who had persevered, or simply couldn't leave, were Tsuna, Xanxus (both belonging to the second category), Nana, Reborn, Gokudera, Hana, Squalo and Beelzebub.

Both right-hand (wo)men had a head for these kind of politics and stood by their skies through everything. Gokudera and Beelebub had a head, or a degree, for legal mumbo-jumbo and Nana and Reborn filled in as advisers for both sides.

Kyoko and Haru had been so kind to bring the food to them, so they wouldn't need to take big breaks and annoy the others. Now, however, they were all dead on their feet. Only Tsuna hadn't given in to sleep as soon as the document was signed, in triplicate, and safely put away.

He stumbled through the Hibari compound — which had somehow become their base — towards the room he shared with his lover. As he softly opened the door so he wouldn't wake Kyouya, he saw his boyfriend sitting on the bed, still awake and waiting for him.

"Hello my lone wolf. I hadn't expected you to be awake still," Tsuna smiled tiredly.

Kyouya merely pulled him into his arms, deftly stripping him to his underwear. Pulling Tsuna even closer, her dragged the covers over them.

"As if I would sleep without you in my arms, koneko-chan," he whispered into Tsuna's hair. Not that the other heard him, Tsuna was dead asleep already.

Kyouya turned of the lights and finally gave into sleep. He had stayed awake for as long as Tsuna had not been sleeping into his arms.


	13. Changing of power

Nono and his guardians had just started an important meeting with the factions that still opposed Xanxus's nomination as the future Vongola Decimo, when Iemitsu busted open the doors, the desperation on face visible from miles away.

"Timoteo, it's a disaster! The CEDEF halves of the Vongola rings are gone!" he cried out, mindless of their audience.

Gasps were heard all around. The Vongola rings were the famiglia most precious treasure. They validated the heir's claim to the throne. Whoever had stolen them had a right to challenge Xanxus to become Decimo.

"When did it happen?" Timoteo asked, trying to keep a clear head.

"I've no idea! There have been no signs of a break-in since I last looked at them properly. That was when you unfroze Xanxus and made that deal with him. The only reason I even took them out of their box today was a hunch." Iemitsu answered and desperation began to settle over the room at the reality of their situation.

Three months were a long time, enough to erase all traces of the culprit. No outsiders had been aware of the upcoming change of power, and even then few had the skills to break into the CEDEF Headquarters undetected. None of the possible suspects had a motive to do so either, since they were all Varia and Xanxus had been promised them already.

These thoughts were vocalised by Coyote Nougat, Nono's right-hand man. He didn't finish however as at the same time the doors of the meeting room burst open and a slender figure dressed in black stepped through.

The woman, as identified by her generous curves, wore a close-fitting black tunic and trousers, and an indigo choker around her neck. Her short dark brown hair emphasized her big doe-eyes. Her feet were encased in black knee-high boots with a stiletto heel. Her sweet smile could melt the coldest hearts, but her eyes betrayed her true feelings for the men present.

Iemitsu lit up at the sight of his darling wife, conveniently forgetting he hadn't visited her in over a year and his last call was almost equally as long ago. The fact that his supposed _civilian_ wife was standing in the middle of the Vongola meeting room didn't quite register either.

"Nana, my beloved flower. What an extraordinary surprise. I have missed you and Tsu-chan so much, my two precious women!" he wailed as he flew towards his wife, only to be met with a foot in his face.

"You were very lucky that I wanted a child desperately enough to welcome your advances and marry you. Consider yourself divorced, or even better widowed..." she scoffed down at him, unable to contain her disgust for him.

Iemitsu had been her escape from the mafia, well not really an escape. She liked her work as a hitwoman, and being freelance, and the best of the best gave her a lot of freedom, but she had wanted a baby so badly. She had been _so_ eager to become a mother, she had accepted his advances and proposal readily.

However, it seemed that after 10 years of few visits and only slightly more phone calls, her ability to deal with his stupidity had decreased to the point she wanted to strangle him every time he opened his mouth.

Pushing her musings aside, Nana turned to the other males in the office. Most of them had risen slightly from their chairs when she busted down the doors. Timoteo obviously recognised her as Iemitsu's pretty and oblivious civilian wife, but she could see the realization dawning in his eyes. Huh, and to think he'd even met Knifing Fox on multiple occasions before she retired.

She smirked as she approached the conference table, an opulent symbol of the mafia's downfall. The men finally seemed to get the danger they were in, their instincts finally identifying her as a superior predator. Far too late, of course. If she'd wanted to, they would have been dead already.

Instead Nana pulled out a chair and daintily sat down as she smiled pleasantly. The apparent contrast in her actions made the men even more nervous. She let them sweat for some minutes.

Finally Timoteo could take the tension anymore. "Nana, it's a …a surprise to see you here."

Nana raised a brow. "Is it really, Timoteo? I would have come earlier, but Tsu-chan convinced me to wait until after the Varia arrived and the outcome was set in stone. I'm astonished at the timing though. Did it really take you three months to discover the fakes? I'm appalled," she rebuked.

Their confusion was glorious and she easily complied with Nougat's request to elaborate. "You see when dear Bianchi came to me and explained that my precious Tsu-chan was supposed to marry your Xanxus to ensure his succession as Vongola Decimo, I knew something had to be done."

She cut off their protests abruptly.

"No you will let me talk and you will listen closely. I allowed Iemitsu to secrete me away to a small village that has fallen off the map. I allowed you to favour your sons for the Vongola Decimo position, even though my Tsu-chan has the bigger claim as direct descendant of Primo. I even stood by and watched as you _sealed_ my beautiful child at the age of 5!" she shouted the last bit.

Timoteo protested at the not so veiled accusation in her voice. "Nana! You know what kind of risk Tsuna was in due to his premature awaking of his flames. If anyone had gotten wind of her Sky flames…"

"I would have dealt with them, as I have done many times over the years. Iemitsu hasn't exactly been discrete about us, and you know it. Don't try to make this about our safety, because it wasn't. It was about your sons rising in the ranks without the threat of my child hanging over their heads. It was cruel and it was pointless. Because guess what, Timoteo, Tsu-chan awakened broke the seal anyways. In a car accident of all things," Nana whispered. Which was somehow more scary than yelling.

The appointed leader of the opposing factions turned to Timoteo with horror in his eyes. "You sealed a child? You sealed an awakened Sky? Have you any idea of the damage you could have done? Not to mention, the child was a girl. She wouldn't have inherited anyways,"

Alonzo, for such was his name, had two children of his own. His darling daughter — the apple of his eye, his little princess — was not much older than Sawada's girl had been when she'd been sealed. He couldn't imagine seeing his beloved Chiara's spirits dampened, the life sucked out of her.

It was forbidden to seal flames once they had awakened and for good reason. To seal away flames was to seal a part of that person's soul. The younger the child, the more their development was hindered. To think that the Ninth had thought himself above such a law, for succession rights of all things! It disgusted him.

Alonzo inferred from Sawada's presence that her daughter had somehow overcome the Vongola Trials instead of being courted by that bastard — in every sense of the word — Xanxus. If she was anything like her mother, and nothing like her idiot father, he might even be able to stomach her as a boss.

Sawada Nana was powerful, and not just in the flames department. Alonzo had never felt such powerful mist flames before, and he had met the Mist Acrobaleno. But it was more. Sawada carried herself like a hitman, …hitwoman. She knew where to strike, physically _and_ mentally.

Not to mention, if a teenage girl could win against Xanxus and his monsters of guardians, she must be something else. He still didn't like the idea of a female boss, but at least she wouldn't be _Xanxus_.

Timoteo had tried to defend his actions, but even his own guardians were appalled by his actions and stayed true to the law. Timoteo had broken it, and thus he had to retire. Nana didn't say anything, but her eyes promised retribution if they refused to take action. Alonzo promised to himself to spread the truth of the matter throughout the mafia world. The Ninth would not get off this easy.

Laying his plans of justice aside, he asked Sawada about her daughter's guardians, how many and who they were.

Nana complied easily, going as far to produce pictures of not only the teens themselves, but also snapshots from their fights. She introduced them, gave their name, age, and a rundown of their specialities. She wisely staid silent about the other children and teens staying at her house, who'd be coming to Italy as well.

* * *

In the end, the move to Italy to prepare for the Inheritance ceremony went very well. Once Alonzo was won over, however reluctantly that may be, the other factions followed easily. Especially when the Varia made it clear they had Tsuna's back.

Dividing the rooms in the Vongola mansion on the other hand, had been utter and complete Hell. The Ninth's guardians had balked at the thought of letting the couples, or both genders in general, share rooms. Which in turn had almost led to Hibari going on a killing spree, Gokudera blowing up the mansion, Ryohei deafening them and Mukuro planning disturbing illusions to trap the old men in. The less said about Kyoko, Haru and M.M.. Takeshi had merely taken to polishing his sword — the metal one, you perverts!

It had taken Tsuna's famous puppy eyes, and Nana smiling in the background to get Nono's guardians to give. In the nick of time as well, since the mansion had been on the verge of needing a complete teardown and rebuilt to deal with all the damage.

The little ones were sharing the room that connected with Nana's. I-pin and Lambo had thankfully learned to play nice and Fuuta made for a good peacemaker if they did start fighting.

Ken and Chikusa insisted on sharing with Chrome, who was still suffering from years of neglect. They had taken to the shy girl and Ken especially had adopted her as pack.

Both rooms were on the end of the hallway without doors. Ryohei and Hana, and Mukuro and Kyoko had taken the rooms that flanked the doorway. Intruders would have get through them first. One down were Takeshi and Gokudera, and Haru and M.M.. Then the kids and Nana, Ken, Chikusa and Chrome, and Lancia.

At the very end of the hallway lay the master bedroom, which was more of a suite really. Tsuna and Hibari didn't only have a luxurious king-size bed and gigantic bathroom; but they also had a meeting room, lounge, and a walk-in closet the size of a normal bedroom.

It would take time to get the whole Inheritance ceremony organized, since the guests had to be carefully selected, the catering had to be decided, the decoration agreed upon, and so on. Haru, Kyoko, and surprisingly Hana had volunteered to work with Nono's guardians, so Tsuna wouldn't have to worry about it.

Instead Tsuna was confined to the boss's office to learn everything he could about leading one of the biggest famiglia's in the world. Tsuna soaked every detail, however horrible, up so he would be able to turn things around once he officially became Vongola Decimo.

Meanwhile Hibari had fully taken over CEDEF, working fulltime to get the place back into shape after Iemitsu's mismanagement. He had been promoted during Nana's confrontation with Iemitsu. Now that was something worth remembering, even if it had been terrifying at the moment itself.

* * *

**Flashback**

Nana had been avoiding Iemitsu after the 'foot meets face' incident, since she hadn't felt like dealing with his stupidity. However it had to come to a head sometime, and unfortunately — for Iemitsu that is — it happened in the dining room in full view of everyone, and anyone.

Iemitsu had once again been trying to get back into Nana's good graces, and for some reason had chosen flowers as the way to go this time. Nana hated red rose, had made that clear from their first date. She thought they were cheap, easy, and required no thought put into gifting them. In other words: her patience had reached the end of its incredibly long rope, and she was done.

"Iemitsu, I will only say this once, so listen well. We are over. I cannot stand you anymore and your foolishness, while entertaining at first, is now plain annoying and inconvenient. According to your staff, you are the worst CEDEF head in the history of the Vongola. You openly bragged about me and Tsu-chan, thus putting us in danger, yet you refused to even call to 'protect' us. Really, I'm doing the world a favour here." She had said quietly, refusing to raise her voice and make an even worse scene.

Iemitsu had been sipping his wine quietly, getting paler and paler during Nana's speech before finally keeling over. The general consensus? Heart failure due to too much stress. The cyanide in his wine was politely ignored.

 **End** **flashback**

* * *

Thus Hibari took over the CEDEF, fulfilling his desire to be free while still being close to his koneko. He still missed patrolling the streets of Namimori, but Kusakabe ran a tight ship under his orders.

Reborn had been the only Acrobaleno to come to Italy, Colonello and Fon had return to Mafia Land ad China respectively. He intended to continue his education of Tsuna, and turned out to be an excellent teacher. So all teens got lessons and tutor session with him.

They were all interested in different subjects if course. Hana and Gokudera took college level economics and law. Ryohei studied on human anatomy, physiology and pathology in order to become a proper doctor, as well as spending a lot of time in Lussuria's infirmary.

Kyoko was interested in psychology and behaviour studies in humans, as was Mukuro. Takeshi had taken up cooking lessons with the head chef and Nana, turns out he had something of a natural flair for cooking. Tsuna got a diverse mix and the others dropped by when they felt like it.

For a couple weeks life was good. But when did it ever stay that way?


	14. Shimon says

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus another arc starts! Hope you enjoy it!

The day of the Inheritance Ceremony had finally come. The Ninth's guardians were running around like headless chickens to make sure everything was flawless and nothing could intervene with the ceremony. Nono had arrived as well as he needed to officiate the ceremony, but he would wait for them at the church.

For once Tsuna's guardians were behaving. No one had started a fight, yet, and everyone was dressed to the nines. Tsuna didn't count on it lasting though. He had woken with this awful feeling of anticipation mixed with dread. Had his hyperintuition not been crying out, he would have chalked it up to mere nerves. As it was he feared what the day would bring.

Tsuna and his guardians would be extremely vulnerable during the ceremony, even if all possible precautions had been taken. Only allied famiglias, or those with to much power to be overlooked, had received an invitation and their allowed guest count had been limited. The Varia would be standing guard from the Vongola mansion to the church, armed to the teeth. Not to mention Tsuna's own guardians, who had reacted to Tsuna's feeling of dread with hiding their weapons on their bodies.

Nothing could go wrong, nothing should go wrong, and yet Tsuna knew it would. They were standing on the edge of a big change. He had felt like this before, and the day after Bianchi had turned out on his doorstep. Just to make sure, he called an old friend and arranged for their swift flight to Italy.

The weather was beautiful for begin November. An icy blue sky with a washed out sun that tried its hardest to give some warmth before winter fully set in. There was no wind to speak of, so no extra jackets were necessary.

Tsuna's guardians were dressed in their usual uniform, made of warmer cloth though. Hana, Kyoko, and Haru had also donned suit jackets like the boys. Tsuna on the other had had been forced into a dress, Nono's guardians citing tradition as a reason for the impractical choice.

Not that the gown wasn't absolutely stunning. A soft orange silk that hugged Tsuna's torso and even gave the illusion of breasts — with some help from Nana, before fanning out into a magnificent skirt. The bodice had a strap going over one shoulder and subtle diamonds sprinkled artfully. The skirt really consisted of many tulle petticoats to give plenty of volume, though care had been taken not to go too far out. It wouldn't do to have Tsuna drown in the dress after all.

All in all it was the most beautiful dress Tsuna had ever seen, and he felt really pretty in it. But it was not and would never be practical. Nor was the elaborate updo complete with hair jewellery consisting of topaz, orange garnets and orange diamonds set in platinum.

Their mode of transportation was equally impractical and ostentatious. A bright orange limousine of some undoubtedly expensive brand Tsuna didn't care about. It probably had reinforced windows and coachwork, couldn't have the boss dying during transport after all.

As Tsuna was helped out of the limousine he let his eyes trail over the church. It was a beautiful and elegant building of white stones and towers reaching for the heavens. A red carpet trailed through the open doors and Nono's guardians took their place as guards of honour.

Hana and Kyouya walked in first as right-hand woman and boss of the CEDEF. Then followed Takeshi and Haru and after them the Sasagawa siblings. They all looked intimidating for once, though it had less to do with their expressions and more with the vibes they gave off, helped by Kyoko's mist flames.

As Tsuna glided past the benches towards the front of the church, he looked over the faces in the audience. Some he recognized, having been forced to memorize the most important people in attendance. Others hadn't been as memorable, or were bodyguards.

One set of faces jumped out to him, his hyperintuition going haywire. It wasn't just their age — teens, like Tsuna and his guardians—, or the fact they were a group of seven. Perhaps it was in their expression. Not envious, elated, or even openly hostile. They looked somewhat disgusted with the events going on, and very determined. It looked, he supposed, rather like the one he and his guardians had worn three months ago.

Tsuna wondered. There was _that_ part of Vongola history, but surely the Ninth would have been smarter… It couldn't be, but at same time it also couldn't _not_ be. Ah well. They would have to see how this would play out. No need to make a fuss when nothing had happened yet.

* * *

Enma was fighting himself as he watched the slight figure make her way to the altar. She was pretty, too pretty to become a mafia boss and have so much blood on her hands. He had been surprised by her guardians, once he'd gotten over her own gender. Three girls, one of which held the most important position, her right-hand woman. He shouldn't have been, he had a right-hand woman of his own after all.

It was a pity Decima looked so pretty and kind. The mafia would destroy that innocence before the month is out. Twisting her and her goodness for their own purposes. She'd be a mere puppet in the end, controlled by the Varia's rabid dog, Xanxus.

* * *

Tsuna turned to the Ninth as he reached the altar. On the altar lay a black box with 4 pearls, one in each corner, on a purple cushion. He could feel the power thrumming inside, but it felt odd. In that box was supposed to be a relic from Primo, however Tsuna distinctly remembered Primo's 'feel' and this one, while similar, was different. Instead of a parent, it reminded Tsuna of a friendly uncle. Curious about his presence, but also welcoming.

Tsuna was so absorbed in the enigma the box presented he almost missed the beginning of the Ninth's speech. Not that it was very interesting. A lot of fancy words about the strength of the Vongola and a new era, more intended to captivate the audience than convey any real feelings.

Then Timoteo opened the box and revealed a bottle filled with red liquid. Tsuna knew at once it was blood, even before Timoteo announced it, and he also knew it wasn't Primo's. Primo had felt like the sky he embodied: serene, carefree and barely under control. This blood contained the same warm, welcoming qualities. At the same time it was unmoving, reliable, an unwavering support.

As the Ninth took the vial out of it's container, pandemonium broke out. A deafening noise rang through the church and the windows exploded inwards. Both sets of guardians had surrounded their Skies in seconds.

When the smoke finally began to settle slightly, the vial containing Sin lay broken on the floor. The Ninth hurried to reassure Tsuna that it was merely a fake and that the real Vongola Sin was still safe in its vault in the backroom of the church.

Except it wasn't. Because Nono's guardians brought out a destroyed vault instead of a secure one.

Tsuna closed his eyes in calm acceptance. The fight his intuition was telling him about would start soon. He pulled his gloves out of their hidden pockets and put them on. He nodded to his guardians and they to fell back into fight mode.

Just then spikes burst through the smoke, dispersing what remained and revealed the seven teens Tsuna had noticed earlier. Their leader, the thin redhead with bandages all over his face, had the Vongola Sin in his hand.

"We're taking back the 'sin'. This blood belongs to the Shimon Famiglia." The redhead said, rather lacklustre.

"Who are you?" Hana fired back.

A tall woman stepped forward and answered the question instead. "We are the Shimon. This is our revenge on the Vongola."

The redhead opened the vial and poured the blood on his ring. Tsuna could feel them resonating together as the blood transformed the ring in a gauntlet, complete with holographic rings. An orange flame burned brightly on his forehead.

"Revenge? I've never even heard of the Shimon." Tsuna cried out. He'd been informed about Vongola's enemies, but the Shimon Famiglia had never been mentioned before.

"Of course you haven't. The Shimon Rings, while the Shimon's greatest treasure, was lost until an earthquake uncovered the first boss's, Shimon Cozarto, grave. His descendants were tasked with protecting that grave, and we discovered the seven Shimon Rings when we tried to restore it." The tall woman explained.

"And the key to awaking the rings was the blood of the first Shimon boss, called 'Sin'." The redhead finished.

"Wh- Sin is Shimon's blood?" Coyote cried out.

"Is it true?" Reborn asked the Ninth, who denied ever having heard of such a thing. Octavo had handed him the 'Sin' with the message that "This is war blood that must never be forgotten."

"How foolish of you. I guess that just goes to show how rotten the Vongola has become, inside and out." The tall woman, Tsuna was going to call her Ponytail, scoffed.

She continued, "Don't you wonder why no one in the Vongola knows what 'Sin' really is. The answer is that your ancestors tried to hide the truth in order to throw all evidence of their errors into the darkness!"

And so she told them the whole sordid tale of Primo and Cozarto. How they were close as brothers. How the Vongola wanted to make an attempt to conquer all the lands of Europe. How they needed to overthrow the strongest family during those times and how in order to achieve that they had to cast the Shimon as bait. How Cozarto agreed and brought a mere fifty family members to a battlefield of twenty thousand enemies.

She spoke of how Shimon lured the enemy out as ordered and waited for their rescue… Of how that rescue never came… How Cozarto was torn from limb to limb and by the end of the night most of the family had met a merciless end!

"The first boss of Shimon was betrayed by Vongola Primo and left to die." Enma accused.

"The Vongola family destroyed all evidence of that battle in order to hide the ugly truth. And as if that weren't enough, they put the blame of defeat on the remaining Shimon family. Saying that they had lost because of Shimon's arbitrary acts. After that, the Shimon family saw nothing but hell! They were looked down upon by the entire mafia world and had lost every connection they'd had… Treated as eternal criminals, they were forced to walk a path that would never see the light if day!" Ponytail finished the story.

Tsuna had to hold back, because the blood pulsed and resonated during the story, telling Tsuna which parts were true and which had gotten twisted in history. He didn't need to protest; the Ninth denied knowing anything about the tale.

The guy with the fedora and glasses mocked him. "Thought you'd say that. Never heard of it —! Don't know what you're talking about —!"

The redhead turned to Tsuna. "And you Decima? Within your body runs the blood of the Vongola who betrayed us." He asked, still as emotionless as before.

Tsuna looked solemnly at the redhead. "I don't deny that the blood of the Vongola runs within me. Neither do I have the ability to find out what really happened between the Vongola and the Shimon. Although Shimon's blood has confirmed certain things for me. But there is one thing I can and will swear on my grave. Vongola Primo is not guilty of the sins you accuse him of!"

The redhead looked as if Tsuna had slapped him and his guardians looked enraged.

"Are you mocking us?! The blood _speaks_ to _you_?!" The guy with the green eyes and glasses shouted.

"We have no intention of lending an ear to your excuses. The only ones who have the right to speak are we." Ponytail declared.

"The Shimon Famiglia will make a declaration here. Kozato Enma will inherit the title of the Tenth Shimon boss and take his revenge on Vongola." The redhead, now identified as Enma, avowed. "I will gather mafia from all over the world and stand above them as leader. This war will be a war to regain the pride of Shimon."

"It's time to have a glimpse of our real power." Ponytail stated as she activated her own ring and they others did the same.

Tsuna signalled his friends and they merely deflected the flames that threatened to overwhelm them. The flames were powerful for sure, but brittle in their vengeful anger.

"What are those flames?" The Ninth sputtered.

"The Seven Flames of the Earth. Because of this power Shimon was brother to the Vongola. And because of this power we were betrayed by Vongola. This flame exists to regain Shimon's pride." Enma stated.

Tsuna walked forward, still in that silly dress and with his own orange flame on his head. "You're wrong. I understand your painful past and the reason you're so angry. But hurting people won't ever help you regain your pride!"

"Stand back Adelheid. I'll be fine alone. I can take down Decima and her guardians." Enma addressed Ponytail.

Before any of them could so much as blink, Enma let loose his ruthless power and the Vongola Rings shattered. He tried to go for the guardians themselves, but Tsuna stopped him. Both of them stared in shock as their rings reacted to each other's presence, before Tsuna let Enma overwhelm him and shatter the Sky Ring as well.

Enma's guardians drew him back, as Adelheid announced that Enma's powers would take seven days to mature. This shocked most of the attendees, but not Tsuna. Enma's power resonates with Tsuna, so similar yet different at the same time. Tsuna had been holding back as well, it's no surprise both have some growing left.

The group disappeared and the Ninth ordered Coyote to follow them, but Hana stopped him. Instead she asked for old correspondence between Primo and Cozarto. Visconti nodded and left the church, while speaking busily on the phone.

"What are we going to do about the rings?" For once Haru managed to concentrate on the essence of the case. She was as shell-shocked as the others in face of such power. They'd thought themselves capable, had become cocky after defeating the Varia. But they were still high school kids, not adults.

As if to answer Haru's question, the double doors of the church flew open and in stepped an old man, dressed in rags and hunched over a cane. His Mohawk stood out, an oddity on such an old person.

"Show me the Vongola Rings!" His voice, while croaking with age, commanded power and respect. None of them hesitated, he wasn't the kind of man you refused.

The old man studied the rings and even began to whisper to them. "Ouch…You've taken quite the beating, haven't you? Hohoho. So the opponent was the Shimon Ring aided by 'Sin', eh? No wonder you were defeated. Good boy, I'll fix you right up."

"You can extremely fix them?!" Ryohei asked.

The old man smirked. "What are you saying? The Vongola Rings are writhing to be reborn. They're still alive, vulnerable without their shell and thirsting to be reshaped and fitted to their proper bearers. I've even got all the materials I need on me."

Here the ancient dug through his rags and showed them a vial identical to the one that was destroyed but 10 minutes before.

The Ninth gasped. "Wh- Why do you have Primo's blood?"

"Does it matter? All you need to know is that it is essential in upgrading the Rings. Decima, if all goes well the Vongola Rings will obtain a power like never before. But if we fail the Rings will lose their spirits. They will never shine again. And it all depends on you and your guardians. Are you prepared to do whatever is necessary?" The old man asked, dead serious.

"Yes. Please, restore the Rings." Tsuna didn't hesitate. They wouldn't, couldn't fail. The Shimon… they needed them. Tsuna didn't know why or what for, but he wasn't about to ignore his intuition. Not when it had proved itself right time and time again.

* * *

While the ancient retreated to restore the rings, Kyoko and Haru helped Tsuna to change into his usual uniform, while the others woke the still sleeping audience. The smoke must have had sleeping properties, because even the Varia were still dead to the world.

They had just finished explaining everything to the Varia — the others had been sent home — when the old man returned. He carried a table with him and on the table laid seven rocks, the Vongola Rings.

"So did it work?" Takeshi asked, unwilling to believe they might fail before they even began.

"Of course it did. But my job ends one stage before the finale version. Only the true bearers of the Rings can unlock their full potential. And it all stands or falls by your resolution. Should you fail unprecedented disaster will occur." The ancient explained.

"Let's do it! Let's show them our resolution to the extreme!" Ryohei shouted.

Tsuna smiled at his trust in them. "Indeed. For family!" He yelled as well, as he took his Ring and poured everything he had into it.

The others echoed him as they grabbed their own Rings. For a few seconds everyone was silent, tense with fear. (Though the Varia will deny that until the end of time.)

Tsuna poured all his love for his family into the Ring— everything he stood for, everything that fuelled his flames. The Shimon were worth saving, they had to be. To make soul siblings fight and hate each other was cruel and unnatural. There had to more to the story! Tsuna would find the inconsistencies and clear Primo's name.

Without any kind of warning the rocks began to glow and flames surrounded them. They transformed into their final state, their true form. The Buckle of the Storm! The Bracelet of the Clouds! The Bangle of the Sun! The Thunder Circlet of the Lightning! The Necklace of the Rain! The Earrings of the Mist! The Hand Flower of the Sky!

They all took a moment to appreciate the new forms of their Rings and to acquaint themselves with their new power. The girls admired each other's jewellery and the detail put into it. Hana was pleased with her practical, yet decorative new belt and Haru couldn't stop squealing about her crown. Kyoko on the other hand mourned her loss of other earring silently and instead inspected Tsuna's ring and bracelet. The chain connecting them emphasized the delicate quality on Tsuna's hands.

When everyone was done gushing, they turned to the Varia to discuss Shimon's whereabouts and their base. The Ninth and his guardians were send home, it's not there job anymore after all. They did call Visconti, who was still buried to his ears in the ancient archives — and developing a nasty cough thanks to the meter of dust —. He'd found one letter send by Cozarto Shimon to Vongola Primo, Giotto.

Xanxus was talking war, mafia war and Tsuna cut him off. "No Xanxus. It isn't war. There is something wrong with the Shimon, something out of their control. I think both sides have been played by outside interference and involving you lot will only make things worse. We'll go alone and I forbid you to follow us."

Tsuna laced his last command with a bit of flame, like mama had taught him. Xanxus wasn't going to listen otherwise and Tsuna needed him to. The Varia very reluctantly agreed.

With nothing else to discuss, they returned to the mansion. They needed to prepare after all and they were starting to get hungry. Lunch should have been served after the ceremony, but yeah… So they moved towards the kitchen where Nana was usually preparing _something_. She'd stayed home to keep her cover as civilian housewife and devoted mother.

In the kitchen however they found two strangers talking happily with Nana as she served them her famous pasta dish. Tsuna lit up in joy. He'd arrived in time after all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I paraphrased huge parts of this from the manga because that was easier and faster. Still tried to give those my own twist though


	15. Pride before the fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to shuffle canon around a bit to make this arc believable. No box weapons, no cambio forma, Vongola gear gets whole transformation and I had to figure out a lot myself. I did keep the manga close, but Ryohei's fight is the ony one I will be able to transcribe to some extent. Maybe Tsuna's and Hibari's, but I'll see when I get that far. Please give me feedback on how I did, and what you envision for the next rounds so I'll have to spend less time figuring everything out myself.
> 
> This chapter is done in Reborn's pov, since someone asked for that. I hope you enjoy the snarky, little shit's commentary. He kinda took over.
> 
> This chapter is still unedited, all mistakes are mine.  
> Enjoy and leave a review!

Reborn hopped off Tsuna's shoulder when the shorter of the two boys, a redhead with glasses, lit up at the sight of them. And indeed, in less than a second the redhead crossed the room and hugged the life out of Tsuna with a joyful "Guys!".

The hug rapidly turned into a puppy pile as Tsuna's guardians joined. From the "Irie-kun, Irie-chan and Herbivore" Reborn determined the boy to be a close friend. Odd, in the three months he had spent in Namimori he hadn't even heard of the boy, much less seen him.

He was flame-active though, a Sun. And what was it with Namimori producing more _powerful_ flame-active kids than any famiglia ever? The other boy, blond with a lollypop in his mouth, wasn't though. He stood apart from the puppy pile and was fiddling with some mechanical parts. Reborn recognized his face from his surveillance of other families in preparation of the ceremony.

He wondered how it would play out. Knowing Tsuna he'd smile sweetly and all resistance would go down. It was a little disappointing to have such a talented student, because even Reborn with his ice-cold heart couldn't torture the teen. Not if he wanted to stay Nana's good books…

Finally the puppy pile dispersed and Irie introduced the other teen as Spanner. Apparently they had met each other during a robotics competition a couple of years ago. A week ago Spanner had turned up on his doorstep and when Tsuna had called, he'd decided to come along.

Seeing as his famiglia had yet to discover Spanner, Reborn kept quite about the blonde's background. No need to distract them from their current mission. Instead he focused them back on the Shimon, as Nana served them all generous portions of her pasta and gave Reborn an espresso brewed to perfection.

Kyoko asked what Tsuna had meant by 'the blood speaks to me'. He explained how it had felt sentient and reacted to Enma's words after he had spilled it on his hand. It had felt so similar to Primo's aura, yet different. Like they had been twins. Tsuna simply couldn't believe that Giotto had betrayed his brother, so there must have been a traitor involved.

"Do you think that person also made the Vongola a mafia famiglia?" Takeshi asked.

"Hahi! That makes so much sense!" Haru cried out. And it did. None of them had understood why Primo had approved of Tsuna's aim to make the Vongola into a vigilante group again, when it had been a mafia famiglia for so long.

"So we're dealing with what? A 400-year-old traitor? Do ghosts even exists?" Spanner asked sceptically.

The others could only shrug. It sounded unbelievable, but it was the only explanation that made some sense.

* * *

It had taken almost a week to get everyone ready and take care of transport. In that period of time Irie and Spanner had been locked into their new room turned workplace working on who-know-what. Both had been very excited to design the Vongola 10th some new equipment.

When Reborn had asked, Tsuna had explained that his flames had reawakened Irie's love for mechanics. The redhead had been in a bad place when Tsuna had stumbled upon him during flame practice. After being welcomed into the family he had flourished in the impossibilities they threw at him and the challenges of making them suitable weapons.

When they did finally get on the boat, after many arguments with the Varia and the rest of the family. They weren't happy that Tsuna was only taking his guardians and Reborn. But they acquiesced to Tsuna's doe eyes and didn't sneak on. Well…they didn't try again when Tsuna looked disappointed when Tsuna caught them the first time.

Reborn pondered the power of Tsuna's inherent cuteness. If it could restrain the Varia, he had severely underestimated its effects. This was less of a cannonball and more like a nuclear weapon. Except Tsuna's cuteness didn't destroy huge populations, ecosystems, and so on. This needed further investigation. If this cuteness could be harnessed…. Oh just think about the possibilities! Today the underworld, tomorrow….the world.

And of course Reborn was drawn out of his thoughts by an island appearing from the fog. From the excited exclamations he gathered they'd arrived at their destination. The giant flash of light was interesting: they wanted this fight and they wanted it fast.

Thanks to Hana's choice of a small and light yacht, they were able to land on shore, where the teens secured the boat. Reborn doubted that the Shimon would steal it but you never knew. Irie and Spanner's newest invention, some sort of shield that basically made the boat invisible unless you had the remote, proved really handy.

The group faced the forest that lay behind the golden beach. About 60 feet from their position, a stone archway indicated a path through the jungle. As they cautiously approached the ancient structure, they saw the staircase behind it. Before they had the chance to go any further however, a lacklustre voice spoke up.

"You were faster than we expected."

They all looked up in surprise. Well, not Reborn. He'd noticed the group for the start. Seemed like he would have to give more lessons on situational awareness. The redhead, Enma, still had that gauntlet activated. Huh, he would run out of steam sooner or later even if Shimon's blood gave him a temporary boost. Not that his power levels would matter. Tsuna had been severely outclassed against Xanxus and had still won. One flutter of those delicate eyelashes and the fight would be over.

In the meantime Enma continued talking, still showing no emotion whatsoever in his voice. "We've been waiting, Decima. You were smart to come alone. If you have brought any unnecessary troops, there would have been a lot more dead bodies to deal with."

Reborn looked sharply to left, but kept his tone as neutral as possible with those horrible chills in the warm air. "Why are they here too? Are you the ones, who let those ominous guards onto the island?"

"Guards? You mean… the Vindice?" Tsuna cried out as he followed Reborn's gaze. And indeed on a lone rock in the distance three robed figures stood.

"Are they…human?" Enma asked, a tendril of fear creeping into his voice.

"They were long ago… Some call them death gods, others call the devils. They are the most feared in the mafia world. Those who defy their rules are arrested without hesitation and are doomed to spend their life in a water prison that cannot be broken out of." Ponytail explained. Reborn couldn't be bothered to remember her name.

Looking at Tsuna, he noticed the teen squinting at the trio. It was impossible to say if they were the same guards that had come for Mukuro months earlier. What the robes and hats didn't unify, the bandages obscured. And they all felt the same, Reborn knew that from experience.

Enma was all indignant fury. "I don't recall inviting you to this sacred island! Have you come to mourn for Vongola, who will soon meet their end?!"

'Real smooth,' Reborn thought. The brat was lucky he wasn't wrapped into those dreadful chains for his disrespectful attitude.

The one in front _chuckled_. It sounded a bit like nails on board while a cat being tortured in the background. "No. We live to take revenge… We know no other emotion besides hatred."

Reborn had to raise a brow at that. Sure, that why we all chuckle.

The Vindice continued. "We have come here to complete the oath between Vongola Primo, Giotto, and Shimon Cozart." Nobody dared to breath at this declaration.

"Giotto and Cozart were connected by a strong friendship." He, Reborn assumed it was a he, sounded… _wistful._ "Thus, it was impossible for Vongola and Shimon to bear swords against one another. However, should there be such a case, then it was deemed our duty to destroy the defeated."

"Destroy the defeated…" Tsuna sounded horrified at the possibility. Reborn sighed and got used to the fact that neither Vindice nor Shimon would be left standing by the end of this. They just had to awaken his protective instincts.

"This oath has been activated twice… The one to lose this battle shall be locked in our prison forever." The guard said, further segmenting their fate into stone. They just didn't learn, did they? Surely they had taken something from the Mukuro debacle, right? Right?! Reborn despaired.

"I like these rules. Particularly, the 'forever' part." Enma muttered. Apparently the brat believed he'd won already. His bad.

"the dice have been rolled. Descendants of Giotto and Cozart… Let the battle begin!" The Vindice intoned as one before they started to disappear.

"They're extremely disappearing!" Ryohei exclaimed just a few decibels too loud.

"We are not here to judge the battle. We do no more than execute the order and the punishments. We shall wait for the moment when the defeated appears. What you must need for this battle, is your pride! The defeated will be the one whose pride has been crushed." Their voices rustled like the leaves before fading completely.

"Pride?! Mafia pride?! Why is everyone going on and on about pride? Like that's the most important thing in life!" Tsuna spat.

Enma didn't quite see it that way. "You're objecting so vehemently. You've stained your hands as a mafia boss, haven't you?"

Tsuna narrowed his eyes at the redhead. "You've got no right to judge me. You don't even _know_ me!"

Ponytail, Adelheid, interrupted before a catfight could break out. "Everyone holds a different pride within themselves. We should decide on the battle rules with that in mind."

Glances and nods were exchanged before Tsuna gave his okay.

"I will warn you now: this is our sacred land. If you do not abide by out rules, we will not fight. There is only one path. Only one goal to achieve." Adelheid explained seriously.

"The Shimon family history is carved into this island. It is the history of Shimon's pain. You must taste these pains as you head for the goal. Enter the arch and continue on the path." Enma finished.

"In six days our awakening will be complete. You'd better hurry." They spoke together before turning to leave.

Reborn glanced to see at Tsuna, but the teen looked content to let them go. He couldn't approve more. Let the Shimon guess at their current level and what they did about the Vongola Rings. It would make for a nice surprise.

Letting their opponents leave, they activated their new flames boots and observed what they could from the terrain. The manmade structures probably denoted fighting spaces, though Reborn warned them not to make any hasty assumptions.

* * *

After five hours of walking through the humid, yet boring jungle — for the teens at least, Reborn was hitching a ride on Tsuna's fluffy hair — they finally reached something interesting. The path ended in a big open space and when they stepped into the circle — arena? —, they were attacked by leaves as sharp as blades. Not that it mattered much, since their clothes were pretty much resistant to anything.

"These plants were all grown from the blood of the first Shimon boss and re-planted here." A figure stepping from the midst of the leave storm spoke. "And now it's time for these plants to drink up Vongola's blood. That's how it is, in the end."

The green-haired teen was tall. His red eyes were partially disguised by his glasses and his clothes looked more like a school uniform than anything else. On his arms he wore some form of leather gloves, reminiscent of mixed martial arts wraps. Reborn didn't have to guess who will take one this first fight, even if the opponent hadn't been a clear hand to hand fighter.

"I'll take you on, one on one! This will be an extremely fair fight! That's my pride as a boxer!" Ryohei shouted, he too had recognized his opponent's speciality.

"That's right. This battle is about pride. I suppose I will have to introduce myself first." The teen said. "I am Koyo Aoba and I challenge you with the pride I have in my fist as well. This means of course that there's only one way to battle for you and I, boxing!"

"However," Koyo continued passionately, "I have no interest in official rules meant to protect each other's lives. If we're going to battle, then it will be one round that we risk our lives for! If either of us fall to our knees, then we lose. Feel free to aim for the eyes, the knees, or other parts of the body. This will be the ring!"

And with that exclamation thick branches full of thorns grow up to form the ring.

"Instead of barb wire, we shall have barbed plants to surround us." Koyo stated, quite unnecessary in Reborn's opinion.

"Fine with me. Flames?" Ryohei asked.

"Of course we'll use them!" Koyo shouted as he activated his flames. Like Enma he had the same holographic rings, but his flames were green and looked a little like leaves.

"EXTREME!" Ryohei activated his flames and ripped off his shirt, eliciting a gasp from Hana. The Vongola crest formed on his bangle as gloves and headgear appeared from nowhere, all adorned with the same crest in some way.

"Hmpf, shiny new equipment won't save you, in the end." Koyo stated as they ran towards each other, a storm of leaves rising up behind the green-haired teen. The leaves surrounded Ryohei, cutting him, while Koyo delivered several punches. A final uppercut made Ryohei fly out of the tornado of leaves, but Ryohei's flames boots had him land on his feet.

Koyo moved in again and the leaves obscured the two fighters once again. Only the sound of punches could be heard. Finally the flames subsided and the two were visible once again. Ryohei looked beat up while Koyo didn't even have a scratch.

"It would be easy to beat you up with my flames, but the finishing blow will be my fist. That is my pride!" The punch Koyo landed on Ryohei must have broken a bone, because even from a distance they could hear the crack.

Still, the teens kept silent so they wouldn't distract Ryohei. Hana was gripping Kyoko's hand so hard, Reborn feared her fingers would break as well. Reborn studied Ryohei's bangle with curiosity, three of the ten metal flames had lit up. Not knowing something frustrated him beyond belief.

"I will extremely show you what real pride is!" With this Ryohei charged at Koyo, who looked like he was going to block the counter. However, with a yell of 'sunshine counter', Ryohei unleashed a huge burst of flames that utterly destroyed the ring and singed Koyo.

"Destroying the misfortune that attacks the Family with my own body, I become the Sun that brightly shines upon the area! Every hit I take, is converted into Sun flames. The punch just now was thirty percent of my full capacity!" Ryohei roared.

"For a mere thirty percent you offered a nose and a rib? You'll never get to fifty percent while standing, not to mention the full hundred. Not that I'll let you land another punch again! You've just lost all chances of victory!" Koyo sneered triumphantly.

In response Ryohei's body glowed and his cuts, bruises and other wounds faded away. "Sun flames have the activation trait. I can extremely take and heal any damage I get on the battlefield! You will not win!" Ryohei answered, confident in his powers.

They charged again, both taking as many punches as they gave. Ryohei's half dodging gave him three lit flames, but he didn't seem inclined to use them. Suddenly a lucky punch knocked Koyo's glasses from his face.

"You…should not have done that. You will die now, where before I would have left you alive." Koyo murmured as his eyes lit up.

"The only fair fight is where both use their full powers! I could not go all out, when you where holding back!" Ryohei defended his believes.

"Too bad. You are enormously outclassed, in the end." Koyo extinguished the storm of leave flames as he rushed towards Ryohei. The punch he delivered was enough to make Ryohei scream out in pain as one more flame lit up. Though Reborn could see the flames healing the damage, leaving only superficial wounds.

"My eyesight is far better than anything you can imagine. Those glasses gave me normal vision, where others would be blind if they used them. I can predict your moves and see my opponents Killer Points. I just hit one, how much more can you take, in the end."

Ryohei didn't seem dissuaded by enormous advantage of his opponent. So they clashed, and again. And again. Each time a flame lit and Ryohei healed the damage, though he faked his injuries well. Then Koyo faltered and Ryohei used that opportunity to charge his normal flame attack and punched Koyo straight into the abdomen, making the teen fly into the barbed plants.

Going from the blood dripping from Koyo's eyes, Reborn deduced his eyes were overheating. The ruining stomach told him the desperation with which he wanted to win.

"It seems I will have to go on for a while longer. Though will you be able to stay on your feet with the amount of strain on your eyes?" Ryohei said gravely.

They charged at each other. Ryohei's flames going up to ninety percent and Koyo's eyes steadily overheating as he took Ryohei's punches. Finally Koyo took aim at Ryohei's right leg. A foul, but Ryohei ignored it since he'd reached full charge at last. The arena exploded in flames as he let loose his 'maximum sunshine counter'.

When they were finally able to see again, both fighters were still standing. Except Ryohei had used the opportunity to heal his whole body and it was a wonder Koyo was still upright, his pride the only thing between him and near death.

A simple punch on the shoulder had the Shimon teen falling down, unconscious. But before Ryohei could start healing him, black chains wrapped around Koyo and he was dragged off by the Vindice.

"One battle has ended," the guard rasped, "thus we shall leave behind the first key…that was given to us by Cozarto and Giotto." They threw a pouch towards the teens which exploded in twelve balls of light. Six entered the Vongola teens' forehead, the others shot off, presumably towards the Shimon teens.

 


	16. What is weakness?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! My exams are nearly over and my inspiration is back! I must admit that this chapter was a struggle since canonically the next battle is between Lightening and Mountain. However substituting Haru for Lambo is no easy task, especially since there is no previous relationship to go on with the way I switched arcs around. `
> 
> That said, i hope I managed to give Haru some depth that the manga denied her. I like her as more that a mere two dimensional ditzy character. So I played up her creativity and made her a fellow reader and writer.
> 
> Also, memories! And I ripped off Rauji's speech because that was already beautifully written. No use to try and improve perfection.
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter and remember, reviews get my inspiration going ;)

The sun shone over the small European town. The wind illustrated the calmness of the small streets. "Hey, you here! You with the red hair." Cozart slowly turned to the man that had called out to him. The blond walked up to him and handed back his wallet with "You dropped your wallet. Found it in Paolo's storage room."

"Huh…?" Cozart took the pouch and hung it back at his belt. "Oh… That's too bad… I dropped it on purpose. I couldn't stand to watch Paolo and his family starve to death." He wondered how the blond would react to that. This was not an age to show kindness to those of lesser means.

The blond smiled however and said somewhat sheepishly, "I see… I apologize about that… but there's no need to worry about Paolo's family. We dropped the food we bought inside Paolo's storage as well."

Cozart started before smiling full out. "Haha! You too?"

The blond beamed back. "Yeah."

"I'm Shimon Cozart." Cozart introduced himself.

"I'm here to visit my aunt," the blond answered. "I've heard of the Shimon family from my grandfather. This is my companion, G, and I'm Giotto."

They shook hands and Cozart knew this was the start of a long and beautiful friendship.

* * *

With a jolt, the teens returned to their own bodies and Tsuna smiled. He was right!

Some distance away, 6 other teens had had a similar experience and they gathered in the central meeting room.

A sturdy built, if not fat, boy said, "Koyo lost to Sasagawa Ryohei. Vindice imprisoned him."

Adelheid continued, "After that, what seemed like old memories of the first Shimon and Vongola Primo…were sent to everyone's minds. You probably saw it yourself."

Enma said nothing, he just looked down.

The guy with the fedora, known by his companions as Julie, remarked, "Ahh, yeah. I saw all that… I know all about it. Afterwards I felt kinda like…'so what?' In a time of battle I've got no interest in it and it doesn't matter so long as we win, right?" He stood and turned to leave. "If that's all you brought us here for, I'm heading back.

"Wait right there, Julie!" Adelheid shouted, "You are a guardian of the Shimon. You have a responsibility to stay involved in our battle with the Vongola!"

Julie exhaled. "You sure talk a lot—" He forcibly grabbed Adelheid by her chin. "I thought I told you a long time ago, I hate it when you can't keep that mouth of yours shut."

As swift as his violent mood had come, it disappeared again. He addressed the room with a smile. "Don't worry. If things get bad, I'll come help. I don't recall you ever having been able to beat the Vongola…"

* * *

"What was that just now?! There were extreme images playing in my head!" Ryohei shouted at the Vindice.

Hana backed up Ryohei. "Memories of when Primo and Cozart first met."

As did the other with various exclamations of 'I saw it too!' and 'What was that?'.

Tsuna looked at his hand, with which he held the pouch the Vindice had thrown when they dragged Koyo of. Apparently it hadn't exploded, and what's more he recognized it from the memories. "Cozart's money bag!" He exclaimed.

"This bag is to be awarded after the battle." the front Vindice said, "entrusted from Giotto and Cozart. This is the first of the seven keys."

"Seven…keys?" Tsuna repeated, "the first… that means… there's going to be a memory after every battle?"

"Oh!" Kyoko perked up. "If that's the case, then we'll be able to find out what exactly happened between Primo and Cozart!"

The Vindice started to disappear again. "Now then…We shall await for the next loser to appear."

The group stood indecisively in the clearing for a couple more minutes before Tsuna decided that they might as well make camp in the clearing. Ryohei started fishing in his backpack for food, while Hibari got a fire started. Tsuna threw his boyfriend a surprised look, before deciding it probably had to do with Kyouya's predator mentality. Takeshi and Hana bickered good-naturedly over the correct placement of the bedrolls, so they had optimal protection from enemies.

Before long they were all seated around the campfire, laughing and eating and generally relaxing after the stressful day. Hana had Ryohei lying down on his bedroll as she gave him a massage to prevent sore muscles in the morning. At least, that's what she claimed, loudly. Tsuna was sitting in Kyouya's lap and the skylark insisted on feeding him. It made Tsuna blush to the tips of his ears, but he couldn't deny he loved the attention. In the end it didn't take long for sleep to claim them. The first battle combined with meeting the Vindice had left them all exhausted.

* * *

Haru woke violently as something soft nudged her cheek and she reacted by trying to stab the thing with her scissors. It was something of a reflex. Bianca had been taking notes from Reborn when training Haru and that had left its mark. The ensuing squee woke her up fully.

For a moment she taught Tsuna had fallen back into bad habits, but then she notices her scissors were impaled into the ground next to a white bunny. As she reached out her hand to pet the cutie, it took off into the bushes. Ripping her scissors out of the ground and sliding into her shoes, Haru gave chase.

However, she didn't get very far before the ground crumbled underneath her feet and she slid down. The tunnel that became her personal slide was too smooth to be a natural phenomenon. Not that Haru cared overly much about that fact. Far above her, she heard the group shouting. Before anything else could register, Haru found herself in free-fall. Unfazed, she did a summersault and landed on her feet.

The cavern she had been brought too was enormous. Haru had landed on a huge circular platform in the middle. It was easily twenty feet across. Crystals adorned the walls and a cage like dome stuck out to Haru's left. In front of her stood a hulking mountain of a man.

"Haru!" The exclamations focused her attention again on the cage like dome. And a cage it was, for her family was trapped inside. Mushed together like sardines in a too-small tin.

The hulking man — boy? — spoke for the first time. "Don't even think of breaking that wall. This dome is constructed such that the ceiling is being held by the strength of the walls. Should you break out, the dome will fall apart and you'll all be trapped in here."

"You bastard!" Hana cried out.

"I've already closed up the way you came in, so just sit there quietly and watch the show," the hulking…mass finished.

"So it's like Ryohei's battle, one on one, huh," Takeshi observed.

Enma's guardian jus kept talking, not paying any attention to the interruptions. "This dome's geological makeup and appearance is modelled perfectly after the mountains where the Vongola first betrayed and persecuted the Shimon. The surrounding rocks are rich with crystals and mineral deposits. Since this is the ideal location for my abilities, fighting here will bring me, Rauji Ooyama, an easy victory."

Haru scowled. An easy fight, huh. Haru'd show him. Her upgraded Vongola Ring activated, forming the sliver circlet on her head. The emerald jewel in the middle was a comforting weight on her brow. In her mind she traced the stylized lightening and sweeping curves of power.

The hulk…Rauji — Haru should show respect for al her opponents, though she seemed to be getting the short end of the stick every time — activated his own flames, a murky brown. Mountain or rock, or something like that. Haru giggled despite not wanting to give anything away.

"You're just a weak, silly girl! There's no way you will beat me. And you're friends don't stand a chance against the rest of Shimon!" Rauji shouted. Oh dear, she'd set him off, hadn't she? Now Haru'd have to listen to _another_ boring speech before she could finally let lose.

"Enma will wreak his vengeance upon us, because of the incredible bond we share! Because we were persecuted under the Vongola…Because we lost our families, so all we could cling to was each other! We shared the hatred and sorrow of unrelenting persecution! So the bonds of Shimon are unfettering!"

Haru's smile grew cold, her eyes hard. Lightening crackled around the scissors in her hands. She shot forward, swift like her element. The mountainous rock that sprang up before her crumbled under the energy in her hands and she had Rauji on his back under a minute.

His shocked expression was a thing of beauty, being beating by the _weak, silly girl_ he'd mocked only moments before. However, she could only mourn his foolish beliefs. Putting foot on his chest, she began her lesson.

"Hahi, I've never heard so much rubbish from one person before. And we all met _Iemitsu_. You think hate and anguish forges strong bonds? Your bonds are as fragile as your mountains under my lightening. The strength of vengeance trembles after it's first blast, running out of steam long before it's task is finished. Only love and compassion stand the test of time."

Haru's expression softened, as did her voice. "Your Enma will lose to my Tsuna, because Tsuna loves her family fiercely. Her love fuels his flames and lessens every blow she takes. It makes her stand after being knocked down. Whatever happened in the past is just that, the past. It has no influence on the present, except if you make it so."

Rauji looked disbelieving still, but Haru could see the flicker of doubt. Time to go in for the kill. She kneeled on the huge chest, bringing her face even closer and adapting the hypnotic tone she'd practiced with Kyoko.

"Would you die for your Enma? I would for my Tsuna. Not because she asked it of me, Tsuna never would. But because I love her and my family so. Because I can't stand the thought of our happiness being disrupted by blockheads. We fight so we can live a happy present, and the future will follow."

Haru stepped away from the guardian and she could feel the chill she was learning to associate with the Vindice lacing the air. And indeed, a moment later the trio appeared once again, chained imprisoning the Shimon Guardian. The dome imprisoning her family disappeared.

"The loser is Shimon family's guardian of the mountain, Rauji Ooyama. Now we shall pass on the second key entrusted to us by Giotto and Cozart."

Haru couldn't quite repress the shiver that crawled across her spine when the Vindice spoke. Like nails on a chalkboard.

* * *

A flower appeared in the Vindice's opened hand and with a burst of light, they were all sucked into the second memory.

"How's Franco doing?" Giotto asked, a note of despair colouring his tone.

The boy kneeling next to the man lying on the ground merely sobbed as Cozart answered. "It's no good. The doctor never came after all."

"Why did this happen to Franco?" Giotto shouted. He'd known Franco as the most friendly and gentle person in this little town. The attack made no sense!

G, his oldest friend, was the one who answered. "He didn't discount his merchandise by 90% when those damn thugs came to his shop. This town is a paradise to those…monsters! They extort money and take advantage from the townspeople. If you don't listen, they beat you up and they bribe the police not to do anything about it. The doctors get threatened, and well you can see the result."

Giotto picked up the lone flower that didn't get trampled when Franco's shop was destroyed. "I love this town. We may live in poverty…but it's the enthusiastic smiles that beam from everybody's faces that I love. They remind me of the sun on beautiful summer day."

Giotto punched the wall next to him, his anguish clear in his voice. "They just want us to sit quietly, watching our town get taken away from us! I refuse!"

But he didn't know what to do either.

"Giotto…" Cozart said quietly, "we could be vigilantes."

Giotto looked up sharply. "Vigilantes?!"

Cozart nodded. "If no one else will help us, we have to defend this town ourselves," he explained. "However, governing that kind of group will require great leadership. And nor Rain nor Storm will be able to keep us away…just like the skies. There's no one else but you, Giotto."

* * *

They all came abruptly back into consciousness.

Tsuna smiled. "I hope Enma realizes what this means for our generation. He really should have let me finish the ceremony. I was going to make a great speech and everything." He pouted a little.

"That's impossible. The first Shimon boss was responsible for creating the Vongola…and he held the Vongola Primo in such high esteem." Rauji sounded disbelieving as he really took in Vongola Decima for the first time. She was a slip of a girl, but her aura and the way she fussed over her Lightening Guardian told him more than a thousand speeches could.

'Perhaps', he thought as he looked over at his opponent, 'perhaps she was right. I guess I'll find out in the end.' And with that he was dragged away into the darkness of Vendicare.

He missed the distressed looks from the Vongola teens as they watched another innocent taken away for a wrongful jailing.

Thankfully Takeshi distracted them before they could linger too long on the subject. "Say Haru, I've never heard you use such flowery language before. Where did that come from?" he asked.

"Hahi," Haru said, reverting to her normal speech pattern, "Haru loves reading epic adventures and lately Haru has tried her hand at writing too. So Haru thought she'd give it a try in real life. To up her epicness!"

Everyone laughed accepting the explanation at face value. All except Kyoko, who knew a thing or two about presenting a ditzy front to the world, and Tsuna. Neither said anything though. It wasn't their place and Haru seemed happy to play her self-appointed role. The only acknowledging they gave was a hug from Kyoko and a touch of fingers from Tsuna. And it meant a lot to Haru, though she would never show it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw no reason to draw this battle out. Haru's goal was to teach Rauji a lesson and the best way to do that in her opinion was to show him how weak he is in comparison to her. I hope Ryohei's battle from last chapter makes up for the lack of fighting. I find it very difficult to write a battle scene with no template to go on.


	17. All bubbles, no bath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exams are done, points are delivered, and I have inspiration again! I played around a little with the povs, hopefully they're not to confusing.
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you like it and please review!

"Good morning. Did Rauji get beaten?" a playful voice sang.

Adelheid turned towards Julie to scold him for his careless attitude. The others looked away. It had become a recurring scene the last few weeks.

"Rauji fought well for us." Enma said solemnly.

"Sorry, sorry…" Julie apologized, "Don't take it so badly. But speaking of which, those memories of our founder the Vindice had sound totally bogus."

Enma said nothing, just gritting his teeth. He was clearly bothered by how the battles were progressing.

Julie continued. "Anyways, don't worry. Only our elite remain. Those brats weren't very powerful when we attacked them in the church. They had two lucky shots."

"Did that guy bring any new information, Julie?" Adelheid asked, not as arrogant as Julie when it came to the next battles.

"Nope, nothing. We just barely got finished with things," he answered.

Turning to Enma, Julie asked if Enma wanted to join him for a morning coffee. He also told his boss not to let himself get so distracted, or he would lose all his focus. When they arrived in the dining room, Julie told Enma that his spy had called earlier.

"He knew all about the thing with our ancestors," Julie confided, "the ones responsible were the external advisory committee, otherwise known as CEDEF. On the surface they appear to be an independent organization. However, it is safe to think of it as a secret organization being driven by the Vongola's intent. And here's the surprise…the person who holds complete responsibility and command over this organization is this man here." He held up a picture. "Sawada Iemitsu, Sawada Tsunayoshi's father."

Enma crumpled the picture as his rage rose to a whole new level.

Julie went out, fanning Enma's flames. "In those past memories, the first Shimon boss may have overestimated the worthiness of Vongola Primo. He was setting up all of this in some way or another. Looking at it this way, Vongola Primo must have been quite a cunning man. We have to label Vongola our absolute enemy. If we don't, I fear the Shimon will…" he trailed off, letting Enma come to his own conclusions.

As Julie walked out of the room, he couldn't quite supress his smug smirk. Everything was going according to plan.

* * *

Deep in the jungle, the Vongola teens were discussing the memory as they followed the path.

"I never expected that the Shimon would have such deep roots with the Vongola," Hana remarked.

"Hahi?! Really?!" Haru and Kyoko exclaimed together. Their fangirling, and flame type in Kyoko's case, had resulted into a strong sense for conspiracy theories.

After hours of walking through the thick forest, the path ended in a small valley with a deserted and rundown village. As the group carefully made their made through, they heard a voice…reciting math questions?! Peering through the doorway, they saw a bald girl with what looked like inflatable rings around herself doing her homework.

When she noticed them gawking, she stood gracefully. Her frontal appearance was as odd as her back. She had a little patch of hair on her forehead and a tattooed S on the side. She wore sunglasses and a bold lipstick. Around her neck she wore a heavy, bejewelled choker. Her jacket had metal plates around the shoulders and spikes jutted out from it. Her boobs were covered by a metal bra and her skirt was extremely short. Her cuffs, pockets, and belt were also stoned. To complete the picture, lace stockings peeked out from under bejewelled steel boots.

"Why hello, Vongola," she addressed them. "My name is Shitt P., but I prefer Shitopi-chan. And you, Hana Kurokawa, are my opponent."

Hana took in _Shitopi-chan_ with an unimpressed gaze. The girl was Hana's complete opposite in both looks and personality. And she was still talking!

"This neighbourhood is the exact copy of the town where Shimon's ancestors lived." Shiti-chan went on to explain.

"We figured as much," Hana said in her driest voice, "we've seen the memories too, you know."

Shit-chan seemed to take offense to being interrupted. "I've been watching you, Hana-chan, and I know what your pride is. Your pride is being the Tenth Vongola boss's right hand, correct? It makes you weak, being proud of _serving_ someone. I'm not here to be used by someone. And I don't do anything for anyone but myself. Being me, who is always true to myself, is my pride."

Hana face palmed. "And you're supposed to be the smart one, that homework is college level! Do none of you Shimon understand that we're not serving anyone, least of all Tsuna? You're wrong by the way. My pride is that I'm the only sane of this group, or at least what passes for sane here, and can assist Tsuna in whatever way necessary. Not because she's is my boss, but because she's Family. She brought us together, made herself our home. That's why we fight for her, to protect our home and family!"

Hana activated her flames, not interested in waiting for her opponent to start talking again, and her Storm Buckle transformed into a chain whip tied around her waist. She untied it in one precise motion, admiring the studded diamonds and small hooks on the steel segments.

"So, what rules do you want for this fight?" Hana asked.

In response she was thrown a couple of black balls, each no bigger than a ping-pong ball.

Shit-chan explained. "We'll be breaking balloons, try lighting those with your flames."

As Hana channelled her flames into the black balls, they produced a translucent shell, like a soap bubble, and started to float. Shit-chan did the same, and now they had both two bubbles floating around them as satellites.

"The Fiama balloon's consistency is just about as delicate as a regular rubber balloon," Shit-chan continued before making a triple flip, "no matter how wild you move, they will follow within the meter of you. The rules of this battle are as follows: popping two of your opponents' Fiama bubbles counts as a win. Do you agree?"

"Just one question. What about hitting your opponent?" Hana asked.

"Allowed. The whole town counts as battlefield and if the duel isn't over within five minutes, it's a tie. In the event of a tie, the Vindice will take us both away to their prison." Shit-chan said.

"Fine by me," Hana agreed. She had no intention of losing to this peacock. The girl was as bad as Lussuria.

The start signal was given and Hana flicked her whip. Shitopi-chan produced some weird looking, murky greenish-brown flames. A shift of her hand and the whip was safely away from the flames. Unfortunately, this meant that only one of the balloons was popped. Hana cursed, she had hoped to end this with one attack.

Shit-chan had abandoned her inflatable rings and sprinted towards Hana. Hana sent her flames into her whip to shorten it as she evaded the grapple move. The girls started to dance around each other as Shit-chan began to talk _again_.

"Living in the comfort of others is proof of weakness. I also have people I love. I love Enma, and Adelheid, and Kaoru, and Rauji, and Koyo. I'm not really sure about Julie. And you're so cute Hana-chan, I love you too," here Shit-chan's voice became dark, "But the one I love most, is me. My sense, my thought process, and my style. My big tits, my thighs. My self-respect. I love myself more than anything. That's why I'm strong!"

Shit-chan jumped into the air, heel angled towards a balloon, but Hana had seen the move coming and had rolled out of the way as the ground where she had been standing turned muddy. Shit-chan landed on a roof and looked very put out.

'Good. The narcissistic bitch needed to learn some humility. Why did she always get the self-obsessed ones?' Hana thought to herself as made her own way up to the roof.

Before Shit-chan had the chance to babble anymore, Hana began to yell herself. "Good for you! But please tell me, if you love yourself so much, how can you grow beyond your current level? Because you believe you're perfect, you will never grow, since there is nothing beyond perfect. There will always be new enemies after Tsuna, always someone stronger and better than the last. They propel me to grow, to train, to think up new strategies. To become better than I am now!"

And with that Hana slashed her whip, Shit-chan easily ducking away. However as the metal flew through the air, the segments lengthened under the pressure of Hana's flames, the tip changing course midway and popping Shit-chan's second balloon.

Hana jumped of the roof, Ryohei already there to catch her in his arms as the others followed to congratulate her. Not long after the familiar chill that indicated the Vindice's presence made Hana shiver.

They announced Shitt P. as the losing party and the envelope in the first Vindice's hand began to shine.

* * *

"Boss, you've received a letter from a person called Giotto!" a voice echoed through the mansion.

Cozart looked up from his paperwork. "From Giotto?"

His subordinate nodded.

"I wonder how many years it has been since. Giotto is now the boss of a big family." Cozart said fondly.

**Hi Cozart,**

**How are you? I hope you receive this letter since you have no fixed address. Actually, I'm the one who is supposed to have the free life that you're leading now, you know.**

Here Cozart chuckled.

**Now, I've gained trustworthy comrades, one after another, and the bond of the family has gotten stronger. The organization has continued to grow bigger and bigger since. It's a giant organization even the police can't recklessly interfere with.**

**However, it scares me sometimes. Whether it's really what I wanted to do. It makes me wonder if the Vongola that I created in order to save things precious to me has now actually become something fearful to people. I'd like to know if there's a right answer.**

**I'm sorry to make you listen to me whine, Cozart. Since you are the only one I can talk to about this.**

**Sorry about telling you this right after what I said, but the biggest war ever is coming up soon. It'll be a dangerous fight even though I've gathered all of the Vongola's forces. I know that you're a boss and leading fifty excellent members. Would you lend me your power?**

**Cozart, I'd like to see you too.**

**Vongola Primo**

"Wait for me Giotto. I'll be there to help you out," Cozart promised.

* * *

"That…was the prelude to the fight where the Shimon family was completely surrounded by enemies and annihilated…" Tsuna trailed off.

"Because the first Shimon fought for Vongola Prima but was betrayed and killed, right?" Shit-chan said, "That's why I've decided to live for my own sake. I was bullied because I was different from others. It was though in the beginning, but soon afterwards I stopped worrying about others and assured myself that I was right. Even so I was defeated by Hana-chan, who fights for the Vongola Tenth. How am I supposed to think about this?"

Hana stepped forward. "You think you are the only one with a difficult childhood? We've all been bullied or isolated because we didn't fit the norm. That's why we love Tsuna so fiercely. She befriended us for who we were when no one else did so. She loved us and gave us a home, even if we didn't ask for that. She makes us stronger by merely believing in us, something no one ever did."

Tsuna laid a hand on Hana's shoulder. "When this is over I'll save you guys from Vendicare. You don't deserve to be imprisoned there."

As Shit-chan — Hana was almost growing fond of her nickname for the Guardian — was pulled into the dimension rip to Vendicare, some sort of chain surrounded by holographic rings flew towards her.

"That's none of your business! Grab it Shitopi-chan!" Enma shouted.

However, the chain was deflected by the Vindice, who were visibly upset about the intervention.

"He's so kind. I'm glad I was a member of the Shimon family…boss." Shit-chan smiled as she disappeared.

"Shitopi-chan. Koyo and Rauji. And my…precious… everything is because of you!" Enma shouted.

His flames were activated, destroying the ground around him. Tears were dripping down his face. There was an edge of madness Hana hadn't felt from him previously. She wondered what had made him lose control. His own right hand clearly thought the same as she rushed in to interfere, but fedora guy held her back.

"Sawada Tsuna," Enma howled, "I'll defeat her right here and now!"

* * *

"Enma, what the heck happened to you?" Adelheid breathed, unaware that Julie new exactly what had caused their boss to snap. "Please wait!" she shouted, "It's not yet time for you to fight!"

"It's too late! I can't stop it now!" Enma yelled back, and she barely recognized his voice. "My precious people! It was the Vongola that hurt them! I can't forgive them!"

"That's just the same as me. I understand how you feel, but why…" Decima whispered. Adelheid was impressed with how her voice, even at such low volume, carried over the battlefield. "You tormented my Family! You're doing the same thing to us. You started this whole mess!" Tsuna shouted as her flames activated.

"Shut up! You don't deserve to be able to say that!" Enma howled and he raised one hand to attack.

"It's too soon to kill them!" Adelheid made one last attempt to stop the fight, even though she knew it was futile.

"Disappear! Tsuna!" Enma released his power and the earth beneath Decima crumpled and broke off.

For one moment Adelheid thought that was the end. That Decima had been overwhelmed by Enma's technique. She was proved wrong when Decima appeared again in surrounded by a dome of power. The feel of the orange flames had changed, cold and sharp instead of warm and welcoming. Even from the distance, Adelheid could see that her eyes had changed as well. They had become the same golden orange as her flames, as well as narrow and piercing.

"Don't think that you are the only one that's angry!" Decima yelled.

Enma taunted her. "Don't get so worked up over that little, damn Vongola!"

Adelheid tried one last time. "Please wait, Enma! You haven't decided on the rules of the fight, yet!"

"Stop telling me what I should do! I'm not a kid anymore, Adel!" She flinched back at the viciousness in his voice. "I'm going to annihilate the Vongola!"

He flew forward, both hands covered in flames behind him. Decima stormed forward as well, and the two clashed buildings crumbling under their combined power. Blow after blow was exchanged, faster than most eyes could follow. Adelheid could though, and Decima dealt far more hits than she took. They landed after a few minutes of battling.

"To think Decima could get this far. But we still don't know…" Adelheid said, mostly to herself. She also noted how calm Vongola's Guardians were. None of them doubted the outcome of the match, and that was worrying.

"This strength…" Enma spat, "only the conniving, controlling successor of the bloodless, tearless, cruel Vongola Primo would have it."

"Will you reserve judgement until you actually met Primo, you hypocritical asshole?!" Decima fired back, seemingly surprised at her own potty mouth. "You know nothing about the trials we went through, the training we had to undergo to get to this level! Besides, had you listened instead of rudely interrupting the ceremony, you would know I'm not planning to inherit the current Vongola!"

Enma retorted. "You're saying that, but the crest on your gloves, as well as your Guardians' equipment, that's the mark of the Vongola…"

"I'm planning to raze the Vongola to the ground and rebuilt it as it was supposed to be, a vigilante organization!" Decima interrupted.

Enma shook his head. "Just like Primo, a filthy liar. Do you seriously think you can escape from your bloodstained destiny? You are the descendant of Vongola Primo, the man who betrayed the first Shimon! You are the son of Sawada Iemitsu, the man who killed my parents and my sisters!" Enma continued in a softer voice. "My family was designated by Sawada Iemitsu to be killed by the Vongola External Affairs Advisory Agency!"

Decima looked frustrated. "If it's any consolation, the idiot died some weeks ago. My mother would have killed him earlier, but couldn't leave Japan while she had to care for me."

Enma didn't seem to register Decima's words. His flames spiralled out of control and he stormed towards Decima. Just before he could punch her, he fell down and cried out.

"Damn, the Shimon Ring is awake yet!" Adelheid shouted as she rushed forward and supported Enma's upper body. "It's alright. Let's get out of here," she shushed him.

Adelheid turned towards Decima. "Sawada! Next time we meet, I'll be your enemy! When that happens, we will have our battle of pride for the Vindice's imprisonment."

Sawada's right hand frowned. "Why are you deciding that you are going to be our next opponent on your own?!"

Julie stalked forward, and for the first time since his personality change Adelheid was glad for his interference. "You have no idea what you are talking about. Don't you get it? You guys just had your lives spared a little longer. After this awakening process, Enma is going to be ridiculously stronger. Your time is almost up!"

"Let's go, Julie!" Adelheid jumped away with Enma in her arms, trusting Julie would follow.

 


	18. The truth, and nothing but the truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally got some inspiration and that made me write this long-ass chapter. Well long for me. Hope you enjoy it. I went with two povs for the most part: Adelheid and Julie. I tried to make clear which pov was which. 
> 
> Hope you like it and please review. More reviews means faster chapters people! The only reason this one took so long was because I only got a handful of reviews on my last two chapters together and I was very disappointed. I'll be honest, getting no reaction, especially so suddenly, hit me really hard. On top of the stress of this semester's exams and all the bullshit I went through with my now ex-boyfriend, feeling ignored kinda pushed me into a post-exam depression. Nothing serious, but not exactly a good writing mood. Sorry if I'm ranting, I just needed to get some things of my chest.
> 
> Enjoy!

Adelheid worried as she sat at Enma's bedside. He was having nightmares about his little sister again. She wondered where he'd learned that Sawada's father had killed his family. Until…'Julie!'. He had been behaving weird for a couple of weeks now. By why? To provoke Enma into a battle frenzy by disturbing him this badly… He would never have even considered that in the past.

She looked down at her beloved boss. "Enma," she solemnly swore, "no matter how much you're suffering, know that the Shimon are prepared to take on anything that comes. So don't worry and sleep tight. I will be the one to purge the Vongola!"

* * *

The atmosphere was tense as the teens climbed the path through the forest. They had all been shaken by Enma's revelation and the fight between the two bosses. Suddenly Tsuna stopped. "I wish mama hadn't killed Iemitsu…"

His guardians looked at him in surprise. "I wish mama hadn't killed the bastard… So I could give him to Enma for the crime he committed. Enma and his family aren't doing things the right way, but… If I was in the same situation, I might have done exactly what he did. If the child of the person who killed my own family was right in front of my eyes… There's no way I could just sit still and do nothing!" Tsuna yelled.

They drew him into a hug, flames mingling and comforting.

"Do you really think this is the scenario that Enma and his guardians were after?" They turned to Reborn in surprise, who continued once he had their full attention. "We'd just put Enma out of our minds and then he came flying in, taking us by surprise. I think somewhere behind Shimon there is a black shadow pulling the strings."

"How can we be sure without proof?" Hana asked.

"Tsuna also felt that something felt off about the terrible method the Shimon is using when their group is so pure," Reborn answered.

"Maybe they've got another side to them…" Hana said.

Reborn hummed, not agreeing but not disagreeing either.

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" A shadow stepped from behind a tree. "The Shimon is a perfect union!" Adelheid came in to full view, in all her blazing glory. "Just as promised I've come to duel you!"

"You will not bite me to death, carnivore. Even in the realm of predators I stand above you in the Hierarchy," Kyouya said in his usual warped way as he stalked forward. They hadn't yet fully cracked the code to understand all his animal metaphors.

"You bastard! It looks like you still don't understand the terrifying strength of the Shimon. It's a duel. The rules are decided by our pride. My pride is…the Shimon Family led by Enma and the will to cleanse!" Adelheid shouted as she drew her blades, which also showed off an armband similar to Kyouya's Disciplinary Committee armband.

"Pride huh? The iron hammer for those who disturb the order!" Kyouya replied as he showed of his own armband, "and my koneko." He finished.

Tsuna could barely repress the blush that threatened to bloom all over his face. The Shimon wouldn't understand, but he did and that was enough.

"The rules are exceedingly simple then. Whoever takes their opponent's armband first wins. We don't need to decide on any means."

"Hn," Kyouya scoffed in agreement.

"Very well," Adelheid said as she activated her flames, "my element of the earth is glacier!"

Her flames formed a ring of ice around her as she leaped down the cliff and into the waterfall, the water freezing as she touched it. Using the ice to slow her descent she landed on the ground below.

"She's strong. But you're stronger Kyouya," Tsuna said to his boyfriend.

"Koneko. Watch my fight," Kyouya responded. Only Tsuna recognized the love hidden in his eyes.

The skylark jumped down with practised ease, landing light-footedly.

* * *

A dark shadow observed the fighters and the witnesses up on the cliff. Julie's grin slid away, revealing a man that looked remarkably like an older Mukuro.

"Sawada Tsuna has inherited the thick blood of the Vongola Primo. She's a dangerous factor of the Vongola. I must eliminate the remainder of the Vongola Primo's bitter legacy. Adelheid will take care of that splendidly. If she wasn't in the Shimon family, my plan may never have worked at all. She's the passion of the Shimon!"

* * *

"Well then, you should equip your Vongola gear Hibari Kyouya," Adelheid said.

Kyouya activated his flames and his new uniform made mouths drop all around. His long black jacket reached his ankles and had CEDEF written in gold on the back. His armband said the same. On his right wrist he wore the Bracelet of the Clouds.

He looked older than sixteen and it made Tsuna tingle all over in a most delicious way. Tsuna forcefully pushed back the feelings and upcoming blush. This was not the time and place to get distracted by his boyfriend. Instead he made his way down the stairs carefully, anxious to get a better view on the fight.

"Shall we begin the battle for the armbands?" Kyouya asked, almost disinterested.

"Let me say this first, Hibari Kyouya…" Adelheid declared. "I don't intend on crossing weapons with you at all."

"What are you on about? Giving up already?" Kyouya asked.

Adelheid scoffed. "I'm declaring my victory."

But Kyouya wasn't interested I hearing her out anymore. Instead he stormed forward to attack.

She dodged his first strike and jumped into the waterfall. "Hibari Kyouya! Watch carefully!" she shouted.

Ice burst forward from the waterfall, freezing both waterfall and lake below. When it stopped its advance, they could all admire the beautiful castle made of ice.

"This is my immaculate fortress, Diamond Castle!" Adelheid shouted from the inside, "this castle made of ice has a calcified coating made from my Glacier Flame. It's completely impervious to any physical or natural attack. And in the face of flames, its _freezing_ powers can handle any flame attack."

"Oh? Looks like it's itching to get bitten. Still, while you're closed off inside that ice, how do you expect to take my armband?" Kyouya looked eager to let go and just bash the ice in, but was restraining himself for the moment.

"I won't be the one to take it." Adelheid's voice was slightly muffled by the ice.

As she spoke the water started to bubble and frozen shapes rose from beneath the surface, all looking like Adelheid.

"Your opponent will be those girls, my ice puppets," Adelheid continued, "these 500 blizzardroids posses each the same power as me. From the start you never had any chance of winning."

* * *

The not-Mukuro chuckled.

"Nufufu, this is why she is called the ice queen. How marvellous, the passion of the Shimon can even make the impossible possible. If she weren't here, the Shimon family would have stayed as the losers they were. Of course, it was me who put the plan to revive the Shimon into action…By borrowing the vessel of Katou Julie, I was able to control all of them. If I didn't have people to carry out the plan, it would have remained just a hypothetical theory…

* * *

Adelheid thinks of nothing but the revival of the Shimon. Her persistent fighting spirit gives her an extraordinary ability to accomplish and thanks to her passionate, zealous leadership the flame of Shimon burns once again. The blood of Shimon Cozarto sleeping inside Kozato Enma boils once more. I consider that girl the goddess of my victory."

The puppets threw themselves at Hibari with a vengeance, but he slew them down one after the other, not breaking a sweat. His tonfas extended into bladed chains and cut through the ice like butter.

"Congratulations. You've defeated a dozen of my blizzardroids. Don't let it get to your head. There are over 400 left. Even you will surely exhaust all your stamina. It's impossible for you to reach me." Adelheid stated.

"Impossible?" Hibari asked, "It seems that you have not yet realized the magnitude of what you're dealing with. Because I'm fighting for my koneko, you had better be more than prepared. The father of a pack must protect its mate and pack against all threats. You declared yourself an enemy and now you must fall at my fangs. It's not because it's my pride that I will not give up. It's because I cannot give it up. That's why it is my pride. Wait for me. I will bite you to death soon."

"Go ahead an try if you can!" Adelheid shouted, still confided in her eminent victory. She would mere, simply because she had the numbers. A demon he might be, but this was a fight he could not win. And in the mean time she could contemplate why he wore the CEDEF on his back.

That confidence melted away as Hibari slaughtered her puppets like they were nothing, meant nothing in the face of his power. She thanked her quick thinking that had her safe in her invincible castle of ice.

* * *

"He's a demon," the imposter mused, "in the history of the Vongola there are only a handful of men who can fight like that. And what's more, there's only one person who loves fighting singlehandedly … The strongest guardian of the first Vongola family, the first CEDEF external advisor: the solitary drifting Cloud, Alaude. Does that mean that not only Sawada Tsuna, but also her guardians are the second coming of the first Vongola family?"

He shuddered as memories from a time long past made it to the forefront of his mind.

* * *

Hibari's tonfas protracted into bladed chains, chains that kept growing as he spun them around himself. Adelheid had not expected the propagation ability of the Cloud to present in such a way and she could hit herself for her short sightedness. With one attack all her ice clones were completely annihilated.

"Now just to gnash up you and all that excess ice that covers you." Adelheid could only liken his tone to a growl and the fire in his eyes made her want to run for cover, despite being safe behind a wall of ice that could withstand all attacks. However, she was not a coward so she squared herself.

"Impossible," she stated with a surety she did not feel, "the Diamond Castle will never shatter. And that's not all!"

With a flick of her hand, her puppets reformed around Hibari.

"Hn, I don't count those as an actual threat. They are starting to bore me," Hibari scoffed.

His lack of interest in her strongest weapon irritated Adelheid beyond measure. "Why is a man of your calibre siding with Sawada Tsuna?!" she shouted. It baffled her that this demon voluntarily listened to the slender and delicate Decima. Granted the girl had proved herself somewhat, but not enough to warrant this kind of obedience.

"Didn't you listen the first time? What's your point for siding with that other small animal?" Hibari shot back and it infuriated her.

"Enma is no weak little animal! He's a strong man, bearing the sadness of Shimon!" Adelheid yelled, her normal controlled self slipping away as she defended her boss.

"No, he is a small animal. And since he bears things disproportionate to himself, he keeps screaming," Hibari calmly retorted.

"It is true that Enma does not like war! To Enma there is nothing more painful than losing an ally!" Adelheid screamed, as if sheer volume could overwhelm her opponent, where arguments could not. "But he understands that if he does not fight, then there is no future for the Shimon! That is why he chose the path of war out of his own discretion! And we sympathize with him, therefore we follow him!"

Her puppets attacked more forcefully the louder she screamed. Hibari destroyed them with a bored air, as if they were mere annoyances. He came straight towards her, aiming for her ice wall.

"You're misunderstanding one thing. In some cases, small animals aren't weaklings. Otherwise they would have all been eradicated from the earth by now. I mated one. Would I have taken a weak mate?" Hibari stated as he launched his final attack.

Adelheid watched in disbelieved as the ice crumbled around her and she felt a tonfa against the side of her head. "It's over." There was no inflicting in his voice, like this victory didn't even matter.

"Kuh. Enma will surely revive the Shimon, no matter what. And you will eventually regret siding with the Vongola," she spit out, "you truly are a floating Cloud, uncontrollable by any being. So in the end, you've become the Vongola Cloud Guardian of the great Sky."

"It's the Sky that allows the Cloud to move about freely. I told you I was the father of my pack, the protector and the provider. Tsuna is the mother, caring for each and every one, and always adopting more. The Sky that influences, understands, and accepts all," Hibari declared as he ripped of her armband and threw it away.

Adelheid had scarcely time to grasp the meaning behind Hibari's words — Hibari and Tsuna? This demon and that delicate girl? — before the chill that announced the Vindice ran down her spine.

"The loser is Suzuki Adelheid. The battle is over, therefore that which has been entrusted by Giotto and Cozart, the fourth key shall be revealed." Their voice was like nails on a chalkboard.

And it hit deep, she had lost her pride. Not just in her family, but also in herself. She, who had always seen herself as the strongest of her family, who had never lost to _anyone_ , had been defeated _so_ easily. And her opponent couldn't care less about her and what she stood for. She was merely another annoying threat in his eyes. Good for a workout, but barely more than that.

She hardly noticed the inkwell as it prepared them for another memory.

* * *

Giotto stood in front of a long table, one reminiscent of the meeting table of the Vongola mansion, with a map on it. He was discussing the southern warfront when a man, who looked like a dark-haired Ryohei stormed in.

"It's terrible, Primo!" Yep, the volume was certainly a match for Ryohei. "Right in the middle of the enemy camp, our family is stranded!"

Giotto turned sharply towards the newcomer. "What?! What affiliation?!"

"He holds the name of Shimon!" the man shouted. Tsuna absentmindedly wondered whether all Ryohei's ancestors were _blessed_ with the same volume.

"What did you say, Knuckle?! Cozart's here?!" Giotto looked distraught.

Knuckled nodded and continued. "The enemy is surrounding from all four directions. At this rate, it's only a matter of time."

"Why would Cozart be here? He shouldn't know anything about this fight?!" Giotto asked bewilderedly. "I'm going to rescue Cozart! Please take care of things for me," he said determinedly.

"That's impossible, Primo! Right now, if you were to act recklessly, it would crush the morale of all our forces. Please, leave it to me. With the elite along, I'll try to pave a path of escape for the Shimon family," a blue haired look-a-like of Mukuro interjected.

"Daemon, thank you," Giotto said, gratitude visible in his eyes.

Giotto missed the smirk that crossed Daemon's features, but Tsuna did not and he felt his heart sink. This Daemon was just like Mukuro before Tsuna had gotten through him and he'd saved Chrome. A twisted, cruel man, who cared nothing about others and only saw his own goals. A man willing to kill to get his way.

* * *

Adelheid felt like she was hit by a sledgehammer —or you know, went another round against Hibari — as she woke from the memory.

"Vongola Primo…He planned on going to save Shimon Cozart!" Decima shouted excitedly.

"That's impossible," Adelheid whispered, more to convince herself than anything else.

"You saw it, plain as day! Primo never betrayed Cozart!" Decima's right-hand woman berated her.

"That's a lie! It's not true!" Adelheid shouted, tears in her eyes. She didn't, couldn't believe it. It went against everything she'd been raised with, everything she stood for.

"Therefore, Cozart not knowing about Primo's letter to him was clearly someone trying to trap Cozart," the baby said. Funny Adelheid had forgotten all about him. Why did they have a walking, talking baby with them?

Hibari suddenly turned towards the treeline, drawing Adelheid's attention. "Hey, you over there."

To Adelheid's surprise Julie walked into the open.

"Looks like you found me. Oh well," he said in his usual flippant way.

"Julie, you'll take care of Enma, won't you?" she asked him desperately.

"Of course, leave it to me. You did well Adel," he reassured her, and for a moment he felt the old Julie again. And then he ruined it. "And from here on, I'm going to go ahead and leave my place in the Shimon."

Everyone, even the Vongola, was shocked by his betrayal.

"Looks like I don't have any need to continue this awful charade. Adel, I needed you to lead the Shimon as its passionate driving motivation, but… You being taken away will permanently dismantle the family. The Shimon guardians have nothing left. And when Enma fully awakens, he'll emotionally be gone past the point of no return, so there's no problem."

Adelheid couldn't believe what she was hearing. She must have uttered that out loud.

Someone of the Vongola wondered if this was a falling out. She wanted to laugh. Did it look like a reunion?

"It wasn't a one-faced rock after all. Finally, it seems like he was that dark force behind the Shimon," the baby remarked.

"Oh," Julie laughed, "very good intuition, Acrobaleno. With the Vongola making it this far, there's no need to hide anymore. Actually, better yet. Allow me to introduce myself to the rotten young Vongola family."

With that Julie's appearance slipped away to reveal a handsome man with blue hair. Adelheid recognized him from the memory, the man named Daemon. The man that promised to rescue Cozart.

"The first Guardian of the Mist, Daemon Spade!" Decima's right-handed woman exclaimed. "Is he a ghost?" followed quickly after.

"Common sense dictates there's no way he could exist in this time. Are you the genuine, real deal Daemon Spade?" the baby questioned. Adelheid was glad they were aware enough to ask the questions she was burning to ask, because she was too stunned to find her voice.

"Whether you believe it or not, I exist. I continued to exist so that someone like you could be born, Sawada Tsuna." Daemon's tone got a lot darker at this.

Finally Adelheid found her voice. "The real Daemon, that's impossible."

The ditzy girl interrupted her. "You know, I don't think that word means what you think it means."

Adelheid glared at her before continuing. "Julie was Daemon Spade, so that's how he knew all of that information. But, there's no way that Julie is really Daemon Spade. So were is Julie?"

"You've done a great job of leading the Shimon up till now, Adelheid. Katou Julie is busy graciously being my vessel." Daemon smirked.

"Vessel?" Adelheid gasped. The others reacted similarly.

"Whatever he's going on about, it seems as though Daemon Spade has been manipulating the entire family," the baby clarified.

"Why would you do all this?" Decima cried out. For a moment, Adelheid felt touched by her concern. Then a lifetime of hate overwhelmed her again.

"Why, you ask?" Daemon mocked. "That was decided long before you were even born. It's all for the sake of the Vongola." His tone turned dark again. "The Vongola truly needed a leader that could surpass even Primo. But in the mafia world, greed and power are what ultimately become absolute justice. With Primo's nature, it would have been impossible for him to do what was necessary to create a perfectly flawless, giant Vongola family.

Therefore, I took care of that for Primo. I allowed him to be free, close his eyes, and plan the foundation for what the Vongola is today. In order to create a strong Vongola, I was prepared to do anything that would be necessary. I wiped out anything and anyone that could have possibly weakened the Vongola… like Primo's best friend for example."

"No! You're the one who set up Shimon Cozart?!" Decima screamed;

Daemon's face remained impassive as he continued his story. "The Shimon family's power was starting to get a lot of attention in those days, so it was becoming a threat. Furthermore, Shimon Cozart was beginning to inspire these ideas and feelings of weakness within the Primo. He was a dangerous person, so it's only natural what happened.

It was a glorious fate. And now in this day and age, that someone would once again try and succeed Primo's intent. In order to crush this foolish Tenth boss candidate… The Shimon's dormant power and their amplified hatred have finally created a most suitable situation to cut open the way to a brand new Vongola."

Adelheid tried to attack Daemon, temporarily forgetting she was still bound in the Vindice's chains. "You bastard! You used us. Didn't you?!"

Daemon just laughed at her. It fuelled her fire. "Then you planned to use the Shimon to overturn the mafia world from the very beginning!"

"My goal was actually the overturning of the Vongola. Inside my head, there is nothing but thoughts about the future of the Vongola."

He smiled at her, and she was transported back into time, remembering all the good time with Julie. Their flourishing relationship. The last real thing he said to her rang through her head, "I may seem carefree and frivolous, but when it comes down to it, I'd put my life on the line. For you and for all of them."

"You bastard, you absolute bastard!" she screamed, lost to her desperation. "Enma, I'm sorry."

Daemon just laughed at her, mocking her. How she hated him! And then, he suddenly stopped. Blood dribbled down the corner of his mouth. And a sword went through him as Kaoru showed up at last.

 


	19. Refusing realities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got back to this story at long last! I hope to write more in September since I finished up my other story. No clue how long my hope is going to last. From here on I'm basically going in blind again as I'm detouring from canon again. Which is one of the reasons this chapter took so long. I didn't want to get Chrome and Mukuro involved in some convoluted way, but then I had to scrap several scenes and ideas.
> 
> I hope this chapter turned out okay anyway.
> 
> unbeta-ed as of yet
> 
> Please enjoy and leave a review

"You bastard! Mizuno Kaoru!" Daemon hissed before coughing even more blood up as Kaoru drove the spike deeper into his body.

"How dare you deceive us? How dare you…to Koyo, Rauji, Shitopi-chan… to Adel…" Kaoru whispered brokenly.

"It's not very nice to eavesdrop, you know," Daemon smirked. His body dispersed like smoke and before anyone could do or say anything, he reappeared behind Kaoru and speared him. "My powers are not limited to the Mist of the Seven Flames of the Sky. I also command the Desert of the Seven Flames of the Earth. I'm in a completely different class than you, Mizuno Kaoru." He brutally yanked his spear back and Kaoru fell to the ground.

The skylark was ready to pounce, but young Decima held him back. Rightfully so, even if the Cloud hadn't spent so much energy battling Adelheid, he still wouldn't be a match for Daemon.

Daemon stalked towards the tenth generation of Vongola. 'Only half of them resemble their predecessors. It's a pity, this means I will have to look for Mukuro after I have beaten them. Though rumour has it he has escaped Vendicare.'

"What do you want with Mukuro," Decima hissed. Belatedly Daemon realized he had spoken aloud.

He smirked again, it would rile them up and possibly make them reveal vital information. "In order to create a strong Vongola after you kids are gone, I need a strong, though, and healthy vessel. Julie won't do for much longer. By coincidence I found a perfect match for what I'm looking for. Rokudou Mukuro. I really don't see why you chose to bond with an inferior Mist."

The baby gazed at him pensively before speaking up. "Most likely, he needs to be inside a body in order to interact with our reality."

"No!" Decima yelled. "Mukuro is my Family!" As she lifted her eyes from the ground, Daemon could see the fire burning in those orange depts. For a moment they took him back, 400 years in the past and miles away from the island. He ruthlessly stamped down the emotions welling up inside of him. He couldn't falter now, when he could almost taste victory. Elena…

"No?" he taunted Decima. "I'm afraid, my girl, that you don't have much of a choice. You will fall to my powers."

The illusion he had been busy spinning snapped into full effect and the Vongola fell to their knees, consumed by the horrors they were trapped in. Surprisingly Decima stayed upright, though only barely. Her flames began to swell around her and she pushed them outwards, ripping his illusion to shreds as she shouted, "I refuse your reality."

Daemon was caught of guard by the sheer power contained in such a frail and delicate body and felt his cheek burning. When he touched the skin, his fingers encountered ice. Since the Shimon Ring would soon finish awakening, he thought it better to make a quick retreat.

* * *

Enma vaguely felt someone approaching. It took all his mental capacity to try and focus on the person. 'Julie. Family. Good.'

Julie moved closer. "I have some really bad news for you. Adelheid and Kaoru, they both got beaten."

"Adelheid… Kaoru…" Enma rasped out. His voice sounded weird, but he couldn't spare the energy to really think about it.

"That's right." Julie's voice sounded sorrowful. "It was those guys again. Those guys have taken away everything that's important to you."

Rage started to consume Enma. "Even Shimon Cozart…even Mami…by the Vongola…by Tsuna…" the walls around him disintegrated under his rage and power. "Kill…must kill…kill…Tsuna…"

From far away Enma could hear a creepy laugh, but the rage made it impossible to focus. His hatred for Tsuna and all she stood for took over.

* * *

Almost as soon as Daemon disappeared, a chill fell over the clearing. Both Adelheid and Kaoru were wrapped into chains.

"What are you doing?" Tsuna screamed, ignoring his friends who tried to shush him. "Kaoru didn't fight a ring battle, he didn't even state his pride!"

"That may be true, but this man's _pride_ is already broken. And therefore we acknowledge Mizuno Kaoru as the loser," the Vindice stated.

"I'm sorry. My pride was placed in the Shimon. For the Shimon I was prepared to do anything. But to know that a… a _snake_ snuck in and manipulated us, even before we were born. It's too much. I don't wish to fight the Vongola anymore. Forgive me, Adelheid," Kaoru said miserably.

The Vindice continued as if Kaoru hadn't spoken. "Now that the battle has been decided, I present the fifth key."

Pieces of paper fluttered down. Before they could hit the ground, they lit up and the scenery changed.

Daemon Spade, looking exactly as he'd done in the future, was standing at the edge of a cliff, looking over a burning forest. Cloaked people stood behind him.

"We have found them," one of them said to Daemon.

"Well done," Daemon answered.

The other cloaked person elaborated. "The Shimon family is surrounded by the enemy in huge numbers. They are under siege, but somehow holding out. At this rate, it's only a matter of time until they are crushed."

"He's an amazingly resilient man, that Shimon Cozart," Daemon mused. "We certainly need to do some erasing after all. For now we shall rush to the aid of the Shimon family. In order to annihilate their family, we shall tear Shimon Cozart apart. If we come bearing these orders marked with the seal of the Dying Will Flame, they will believe we are their allies and let their guard down."

His subordinates reacted as one. "Understood, sir!"

The background changed again, this time to the Vongola mansion. Daemon stumbled in, bloody and beaten. Primo ran towards him immediately. "Daemon! Are you alright!?"

"I'm so sorry, sir! The enemy vastly outnumbered our expectations. Even against our elite forces, their relentless assault annihilated us." Tsuna was appalled at how sincere the traitor sounded.

"What about your subordinates?" Primo asked.

Daemon winced. "I'm so sorry. I'll take responsibility."

"I should go after all!" Primo decided.

"That's useless!" Daemon exclaimed. Primo looked at him in shock. "By the time I had rushed there, it was already too late. Shimon Cozart was no more. I tried to at least bring his remains back," Daemon whispered sadly.

Primo turned away. "I see. I'm indebted to you, Daemon." The tears were clear in his voice and he missed Daemon's smug expression.

Back in the forest, cloaked people approached Cozart. One of them held out an official looking document. "Simon Cozart-sama. We are here under orders of Daemon Spade of the Vongola. We are your reinforcements."

Cozart smiled. It was a sad and resigned sort of smile. "Don't lie to me. Under the orders of that man named Daemon, you've come here to wipe us out, haven't you?"

The cloaked people were startled, but didn't deny the accusations.

"So it is true. I realized there was a traitor within the Vongola," Cozart stated.

"What?!" one of the cloaked subordinates exclaimed.

"I realized when the letter I received ended with 'From Primo'. Giotto never refers to himself as 'Primo' to me. The letter clearly was a fake. I became worried about Giotto and tried to act quickly, but it appears I played right in Daemon's cards. So I guess this is it then." Cozart stood up from the wall he was sitting against. "But I'm going to fight until the end! Even if this body is broken down, I will fight for my family and friends!"

"Boss! Us too!" others shouted around him.

"Well spoken, though it appears Vongola was one step ahead of Daemon Spade." The cloaked people started to take off their cloaks and masks. "We had already seen though the plans of our boss, Daemon Spade. By the orders of Vongola Primo… Better yet, for you and Giotto's friendship we shall defend the Shimon Family to the very last."

Tsuna gasped. He knew those faces, though younger and with different colouring. So that's how his family would have looked if Nono had gotten to him earlier.

Cozart gasped as well. "G!"

"Cozart, these men are the same as me, Giotto's guardians," G said. "Please trust us. We could just go full force right here and now, but we don't want to let Daemon Spade know that we've come to the aid of the Shimon just yet. Let's leave the situation to these guys. You and I should go to Giotto."

"G, Giotto's guardians. Thank you." This time it was a happy, and grateful, smile that graced Cozart's lips.

The memory ended and shock was the predominant emotion all around.

"Shimon Cozart is…" Adelheid whispered.

"He wasn't killed by the Vongola after all!" Kaoru said elatedly.

"It seems as though the handed-down history of the Shimon famiglia has been rewritten." Reborn, the king of stating the obvious. "But if he was never assassinated, Cozart should have been alive well after the battle ended." Or maybe not, for once.

Before they could dwell on the implications, Adelheid and Kaoru were dragged away by the Vindice.

"Sawada!" Adelheid called out. "I have a favour to ask of you. It's about Enma. Please save him!" Tears streamed down her face. "That boy, Enma's heart is broken beyond the point of reach. The past of Cozart and his companions won't get through to him! The only thing left that can save him…is you! Your innocence made him hesitate at the inheritance ceremony and then everything went to hell. I don't expect you to be able to forgive us for all the harm that we've caused until now. But I am sorry. And I now the others are as well." Then Adelheid and Kaoru disappeared.

"Adelheid! I promise to defeat Daemon! And save Enma!" Tsuna called after them, even he knew they couldn't hear him anymore.

* * *

"Impossible! Primo saw through my plan! However I have never detected a trace of his existence." Daemon huffed. "Not that the me living in reality can be affected by people buried in the past. I will not allow any amount of past events jeopardize the future of the Vongola that I envision!"

* * *

"Tsuna." He turned to her, a worried expression on his face at the seriousness of her voice. "I know it the end it will be between you and Daemon, but I want to fight him. To show I'm not inferior to Mukuro in anyway. To let him know you are proud to have me as your Mist. To make you proud."

Kyoko was deeply offended by Daemon's severe underestimation of her. She had taught her boyfriend most of the tricks he knew, humph. She was not inferior to anyone!

Despite the mask she presented to people, Kyoko craved recognition for her skills. She had been just a pretty face for so long, and even now that was people's first impression when they met her. It had awakened a burning need inside of her. A need to make know that she _was_ , and always will be, the greatest Mist to walk this Earth. Maybe then strange men wouldn't hit on her so shamelessly! People would _listen_ to her!

She'd show Daemon how wrong his opinions were! He'd be so trapped in her illusions he wouldn't know which way to turn. She'd make him weep for not taking her serious.

He believed himself to be so high and mighty he hadn't even seen through image she'd presented. He'd only seen what he wanted to see: a weak Vongola succumbing to his horrors. Kyoko had countered him and made her own in less than the blink of an eye. Then she'd urged him to go back to Enma. He hadn't even noticed! How second-rate could one Mist be?

Sure he had to other Earth Flames now, most likely they also had to do with illusions, but that didn't mean he had twice as much Flames. The amount, your reserves if you will, are predetermined. It can be enlarged by training, but not indefinitely. Like muscle growth, if you're not meant to be a bodybuilder you never will.

And even though Daemon had more flames, that didn't mean he was as skilled with them, or had Kyoko stamina to make them last. He was the type to use more than he needed to make an illusion stick, simply because he could. Too bad Kyoko had a taste of his Flames now, both Sky and Earth, and would have no trouble evading and rejecting them.

* * *

Kyoko was stubborn. An unavoidable fate with a brother like Ryohei. But Kyoko outshined her brother in the stubborn category — so maybe a family trait? Once she put her mind to it, she wouldn't —couldn't— stop until she reached her goal. So when she told him she wanted to fight Daemon, Tsuna knew there was nothing he could do to change her mind.

Oh, he could order her to stand down and she would listen. But why curb her natural tendency. Kyoko deserved the fame that she'd get by defeating Daemon Spade, the original Mist guardian. She no doubt expected Tsuna to step in and finish off Daemon. However Tsuna saw no need to. And he didn't want to deny himself the satisfaction of seeing the snake being beaten in his own game by the little girl he had insulted earlier.

 


	20. The encompassing sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive. Peeks out from behind mountains of work. Well, mostly. Our professors are doing their hardest to kill us though. This chapter has been written mostly during classes or lunchbreak over the course of three months.
> 
> This is unbeta-ed as of yet.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! And please leave a review on your way out!

The flames greeted them as soon as they entered the cave. They were foul and twisted. An angry possessiveness and hate so deep Tsuna breath stopped. Kyouya could only just catch him before his knees hit the ground. He keened in sadness for his fellow Sky, or whatever Enma's Flames actually were. So broken…

His friends looked at him with worry, but he told them he was fine and that they should move on. Though he didn't protest at all when Kyouya took him in his arms. He just buried his head in his boyfriend's neck, allowing the Cloud Flames to shield him the madness up ahead. He'd promised Adelheid that he'd save Enma, and he'd meant it. But that was before he'd had a taste of twisted Enma had really become. Their fight would be more than just an exchange of blows and Flames until one of them collapsed.

Tsuna curled up further in his boyfriend's arms. Kyouya's swaying started to lull him to sleep and he gratefully took the reprieve it offered.

* * *

When he felt his boyfriend drop off to sleep, Kyouya tightened his grip for a second before walking on as if nothing had happened. His Flames cloaked Tsuna, they would protect him for as long as Tsuna needed. The questioning gazes of the others were met with a dark glare and they held their tongues. Good. Tsuna needed the rest. The fight ahead would be more difficult than the others suspected. Except for Kyoko perhaps, but who knew what _she_ was thinking.

No one knew Tsuna as he did. No one remembered the bullying, the cruelty, or Tsuna's aloneness. They had all been attracted after. When Tsuna learned to smile to mask the tears in his eyes and to kill with kindness. But not Kyouya. He remembered. Could count the scars left on his koneko. He wasn't blind to the reality of what Tsuna could have been if he hadn't had his mother. What Tsuna could still become under the right pressure.

There were days Kyouya still punished himself for not protecting Tsuna sooner. For seeing him as another weak herbivore the herd was picking on, a natural instinct in pack animals. Ruthlessly, he beat down his guilt. He'd paid his dues and made things right. The past would not overcome him, it had no hold over him.

When the tunnel opened up into a giant underground cavern, complete with a medieval castle, Tsuna was woken up by Kyouya. This happened far gentler than one might expect from the Cloud. He was set to his feet, though Tsuna still clung to his boyfriend. Thankfully he had acclimated somewhat to viciousness of Enma's Flames, and he was filled with new determination.

* * *

The throne Enma was sitting on was as twisted and foul as the Flames that surrounded him. His eyes were blank as his voice rasped. "Must kill…"

Tsuna took a step forward, straining not to faint under the pressure. "Enma! You saw it yourself! Shimon Cozart was never betrayed by Vongola Primo!" he shouted.

"Shimon…Cozart…Vongola Primo…He…Killed…Cozart, Mami, everyone…Vongola Tsuna…Killed…" Enma's flames exploded away from his body, but Tsuna was ready for it this time and didn't allow them to overwhelm him. It was obvious no words could reach Enma anymore. He had become a machine of resentment and murderous intent.

Tsuna closed his eyes in resignation. When he opened them again, they burned as bright as his lit flames and his ring transformed into its true state.

Enma's eyes focused on him at that moment and his umbrellas turned to him. As Tsuna took off, using his flame boots to propel himself forward. However the umbrellas shot large black balls towards him and Tsuna found himself sucked away from his original path. It seemed each of those balls had their own gravitational field and they were stronger than his boots. Tsuna got bounced back and forth as his boots sputtered and finally died.

"Ugh!" Tsuna grunted. As he got up and activated his flames on his feet, _through_ the boots, the balls shattered. Instantly the gravitational fields got a hundred time stronger.

"Black holes! Watch out, Tsuna! Even light can't escape the absolute gravity of those things," Hana shouted, panic colouring her voice.

Tsuna snorted from exertion. It wasn't enough. He couldn't give enough power to counter the black holes and one of them sucked him closer and closer.

Tears escaped his eyes. He didn't want things to end like this. Defeated by the inevitability of physics. He had always hated to study physics, still did! Flames existed! Surely every law of the universe was meant to be broken?!

Just before the tail end of his flames entered the black hole, something clicked and Tsuna felt a wall crumble in his head. Power flooded his veins, leaving his body through his feet as the flames that tried to propel him away roared and he was thrusted forward and away from the black hole.

Tsuna rushed forward breaking the heaps of rock that Enma put in his path.

'I don't want to be alone…'

The sad voice rang through Tsuna's mind and nearly broke his concentration, but he kept it together. Another clump of rocks broke under his fist.

'So lonely…'

With a start Tsuna realised he was hearing Enma's inner thoughts.

'No one here… I'm all alone… So lonely… Help me!'

Tsuna rushed forward, breaking through several rocks on the way, as Enma's devastatingly lonely and depressed thoughts powered his flames.

"Tsuna…Must kill…"

Frustrated by the dichotomy of Enma's words and thoughts, Tsuna threw a mean left hook to Enma's face in the hope it would make him snap out of his mindless fury.. However it clearly didn't work as Enma summoned a huge rock.

Knowing fighting Enma to wake him up was unlikely to succeed, Tsuna made a snap decision. He pushed his natural fight or flight instinct down and let the rock crash down on him. Though he wasn't stupid enough not too protect himself with his flames. Half buried under broken stone, Tsuna cried out: "I'm here!"

The thoughts changed. Instead of heart-breaking loneliness, they became curious and inquisitive, although an edge of depression remained. 'I know this voice…Who is it?'

Tsuna reached out with his Flames, full of hope and friendship. He allowed Enma's Flames to mingle with his. Giving more friendliness, more support.

'A…friend?' With a final push from Tsuna, Enma's eyes cleared and he gasped. "Tsuna-chan?"

* * *

**Change of POV**

"Tsuna-chan?" Enma looked in horror at the slight body before him, buried under rubble. He didn't quite comprehend what she was doing here, but he basked in the warmth of her flames. They soothed the ache in his chest.

Then the flashbacks started. One by one he watched the memories held by the keys, and realized that Giotto had never betrayed Cozart at all. Sorrow filled him at the thought he had nearly kill the kind and goodhearted person before him.

"I…I…" He stuttered. He didn't know what to say. How to make his apology powerful enough.

Her smile was soft and everything soothing. "It's okay now. I came to save you.

"Tsuna-chan. Just like Vongola Primo, you didn't betray me." Enma's blood froze and he gasped. "I'm sorry." His voice came out strained. "It's too late. I can't control my own power anymore.

His body became rigid as a black hole materialized in his chest and started growing and growing. He couldn't escape, he was being sucked into his own power and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Run away! Everyone is going to be killed! Run!" Enma screamed. But deep down he knew it was too late already. Tsuna and her guardians would never make it in time. And looking in her eyes, he knew she had realized it as well. But instead of fear or even resignation, he saw determination flickering in the flames of her eyes.

She crossed her arms, soft flames burned backwards from her wrists, as she was obviously preparing for some ultimate attack. An X formed in each eye, and Enma realized she was wearing contacts.

Whatever Enma had expected it wasn't the burst of flame that towards him, threatening to burn him as well as the black hole his body had become.

"Please hold on, Enma! I'll save you no matter what! My pride is at stake!" Tsuna screamed.

Vaguely Enma wondered what Tsuna's pride was and how it liked to him. But the question was quickly pushed out of his mind by the knowledge that even what seemed to be Tsuna's ultimate attack, it wouldn't be able to conquer his black hole. He was disintegrating and it threatened to overwhelm him. A last, strange, thought passed through his mind. 'This is what rules everything. What encompasses all. The Sky's Harmony.'

* * *

The flames filled the room. Scorching the pillars and floors. Yet Tsuna knew it would harm his family. And when the smoke cleared up, Enma also became visible — alive and well. Because he too was family. And Tsuna was prepared to do anything to protect his family. Even save them from themselves, as they had once saved him. He didn't need to fear becoming Dame-Tsuna again, because he had people now who wouldn't stand for it.

Enma tried to apologize, but Tsuna wouldn't hear from it. There was only one at fault in this whole mess, and that was Daemon Spade. He said so to Enma. The question about his pride surprised him. He thought it would have been obvious.

He smiled down at Enma. "My pride is my family. The one thing I will never surrender, never give up."

Not wanting to dwell on bad memories any longer, Tsuna started to discuss a plan to take Daemon Spade down. When Enma timidly asked to join in, Tsuna accepted him without any commend, though privately he would have liked to see Enma rest first. This whole battle had been rough on him and he looked ready to keel over at any minute.

However, their planning was interrupted by the Vindice. Tsuna felt ready to throw a tantrum. This was clearly a farce, why did they insist on going through with it. But he held his tongue, cropping up his frustrations for later.

The sixth key they presented was a clear pacifier, which seemed to shake Reborn for some reason.

* * *

Giotto met his old friend in the woods. He was glad to see Cozart again, though the circumstance angered him greatly. To think that Daemon had turned traitor and tried to harm Cozart, whom Daemon knew was like a brother to him… It filled him with rage and sorrow.

When Cozart proposed his plan, Giotto could scarcely believe it. And refused to even consider it at first. To never see his brother again…

In his anger he shouted at Cozart. When the other calmly answered him back, providing arguments for Giotto's every objection, he knew he couldn't change Cozart's mind. He had made his decision and he would stick to it. No matter how much pain it would cause them both. Silently, Giotto regretted his decision not to publicly announce the other man's place in his life. He could have dealt with the scorn and disgust with Cozart at his side, in…. No! He shouldn't think like that. The past was the past and he would do Cozart proud by not fighting him on this.

"Fine." Giotto was sure Cozart could hear the reluctance in his voice. He had always been so good at reading him. "But I want you to swear something to me. That as long as the Vongola exists, the Shimon will always be there in the shadows supporting us."

Cozart smirked at him and Giotto wanted to… "In that case, I swear. The Shimon family feels no resentment or bitterness towards the Vongola for this incident. No matter what happens, from now until the end of time, our families will always be close."

"Yeah." It was enough, it had to be enough for Giotto, because he would never have anything else from Cozart.

An icy chill suddenly passed through the clearing and a scraping, rasping voice rang out. "You've said the words. Now you must uphold the mafia law, Giotto-kun and Cozart-kun.

 


	21. Who lives?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long. I haven't had any time to write since December because I was studying for my exams. And since I'm getting ready for a big move, I'm unsure when I'll be writing again. You see, I'm going to Germany! Dresden in particular. I'll be there for 4 months as I'm doing my internship before graduating in June. I've no clue how I'll be settling in, nor do I have any experience with coming home alone after a full workday. It will be interesting that's for sure.
> 
> This chapter marks the end of the second big arc of this story. It's unbeta-ed for now.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it and leave comment down below!

"You've said the words. Now you must uphold the mafia law, Giotto-kun and Cozart-kun."

Reborn shivered at the familiar raspiness of the voice. The Vindice always gave him the creeps, no matter how much he had encountered them over the past few days. Instinctively, he turned to the voice — unwilling to leave his back to a threat. What he saw…he thought his heart would give out. A toddler with a _clear_ pacifier! How on earth was this possible!

"Hey, Vindice! Why do you have a clear pacifier?" The memory is fading fast, but Reborn needs this, desperately. "Answer me!"

However, the memory is gone. Reborn groaned and ignored Tsuna's inquisitive look. He owed the boy some answer, but…he just can't right now. It was all he could do to keep his composure. Giotto uttered a name. Bermuda Von Lichtenstein. As soon as he is able to contact the others, he must share this news. They need to know.

The Vindice in the present were talking, so Reborn automatically tuned in — more by instinct than real awareness. "We have no reason to tell you." Reborn scuffed. Why did he even expected them to give a proper answer?

They were addressing Enma now. "Kozato Enma, as you are the Shimon boss, you shall see this battle between the families to the very end. As such, your imprisonment will be carried out after the outcome of the last Guardians has been decided."

Kyoko grinned darkly, clearly excited about her upcoming battle. Good girl, she had obviously paid attention to Nana. The girl was thirsting for Daemon's blood and Tsuna wasn't going to deny his Mist. God, it would be a bloodbath. Namely, Kyoko slaughtering Daemon.

* * *

Kyoko felt Daemon approaching. She urged him on a bit, ignoring the Vindice still there. But when he stepped in the room, she saw red. "Mukuro! You asshole! This was my fight! What makes you think you can intrude?"

Mukuro mouth opened, but Daemon Spade's voice came out. "Nufufu. This fool came running as soon as the barriers around the island fell away. I guess even the strongest Mist of this generation doesn't measure up to my greatness."

Kyoko saw red. This foul, narcistic, egotistical, tyrannical monster dared to mess with _her_ Mukuro! She'd show him the true power of her Flames.

The fight was a blur of shapes and colours bleeding into one another. All that registered was the blood roaring in her ears, her heart beating a war drum, and 'PROTECT' echoing through her mind. She cared not for the subtle manipulations of the mind she had come up with in the past days, she _became_ Mist. She was ungraspable, unreachable. Her body became as fluid as her mind and Flames. This was not a battle between physical bodies, but between their essences.

When Kyoko returned back to consciousness, she had Daemon's true form pinned beneath her parasol. The wyrm looked terrified for the first time since they'd met and she grinned in victory. She bowed down, keeping her parasol firmly in place. She looked Daemon dead in the eyes. "Listen up, asshole. I'm not inferior to anyone. Especially to a misogynistic, chauvinistic, arrogant, traitorous piece of shit like you. I'm proud to be Tsuna's Mist, his guard in the shadows. And I know that he is proud of me."

Kyoko felt Tsuna step up behind her, and she leant into his comforting aura. Enma wasn't far behind, less warm and familiar but sturdy and steadfast. They had clasped hands, Rings touching each other. Tsuna's voice was confident as he announced that the Vongola and the Shimon would be allies and brothers again. As he did, the Rings began to glow until everyone had to avert their eyes. When they could see again the Rings had combined into one, resting where Tsuna's own Vongola Ring had before.

Then the chills began. The seventh key had arrived.

* * *

"Uphold the mafia law, you say?" Giotto asked.

"Indeed," the Vindice said. "From this day forth, if Vongola and Shimon ever oppose one another, we will deliver the punishment."

"What are saying? This doesn't involve you in the least!" Giotto cried out. "Even if you are the keeper of the mafia law!"

"We won't allow that, especially for you, Giotto-kun. To keep this promise, the destinies of the Acrobaleno and the Vongola will be intertwined from this day forth," the Vindice rasped solemnly.

"Acrobaleno?" Giotto asked confused.

"It's fine, Giotto. Let' make the promise. Our families will never come into conflict." Cozart decided.

Giotto protested, but Cozart was unmovable in his belief in them and their future children.

"Should this oath be broken, the bosses and guardians will battle to defend their pride. The losers will be incarcerated for the rest of their lives," the Vindice warned.

Giotto and Cozart looked visibly shocked. Nevertheless Giotto's mind was made up and he wouldn't be moved.

"That is fine," he agreed. "However I have one condition: at the end of each dual, I want you to show our descendants some of the true history of our families."

"Giotto…" Cozart whispered. He closed his eyes before adding to Giotto's condition. "After the last one, if their enmity for each other has not been extinguished. You can boil them, burn them…Whatever you whish is fine. But, if our two families make amends and renew their friendship," Cozart paused. "Have our Flames burn as one as evidence of our will to keep this promise."

* * *

The memory ended and the combined Ring burst into Flames from the past. It pained Daemon as painful memories were forcefully brought back to the front of his mind. Losing Elena, falling out of harmony with Giotto as he steered the family away from what Daemon considered the Vongola's true destiny and strength.

But Sawada's own Flames shone true. A fool might think her flames the same as Giotto's, but Daemon had tasted both and he knew the difference. Sawada's Flames were that much purer and more determined. Giotto had grown lax, lost his focus when Daemon used his traitorous plan to get Primo back on track. Sawada had shown her determination to protect the family, and her Family, at all costs. She reminded him of his Elena, the way her inner goodness simply shone through.

He used his last strength to raise his head and look Sawada in the eye, making sure he had her attention. "You know what happened now. But you don't know why I did what I did."

"Does that even matter?" Enma asked scornfully. Daemon couldn't fault his for that.

"It does," Sawada answered before looking back at Daemon. "Tell your story."

"And you better make it good," Enma glared.

And so Daemon explained. "I was an aristocrat. Before I met Giotto I was disgusted by the attitude of my peers and revolted against my upbringing every chance I got. And then I met Elena. For me, it was love at first sight. She simply radiated kindness and love and… She was truly beautiful, inside and out. And she loved me back."

Daemon stared wistfully off into the distance, the past painted before his eyes. "When we met Giotto, I finally found a cause I could support. I always believed that the capable should lead society and protect the weak. And that was how Giotto's original group came to be. I gave everything for the Vongola that protected Cozart's little mountain city and gradually expanded to keep crime and outlaws to a minimum. The Vongola my Elena loved."

"And then Giotto threw it all away. He was worried that the Vongola would begin fighting for self-interest instead of protecting the defenceless. So he disbanded our military forces. And none of the others saw or understood what I did. That was when the first notes of disharmony arose between me and Giotto.

That wasn't the worst of it though. Another Family took advantage of our weakness, and invaded what we'd claimed as our territory. It took everything we had to drive them back and many casualties. One…" Daemon's voice broke." One of them was my beloved wife, Elena."

Daemon ignored the gasps in the background, trying to muster the energy needed to finish this. "Giotto refused to acknowledge his responsibility for the death of my wife and our comrades. No matter how much I argued and tried to convince Giotto, he only restored the bare minimum of our military. And so it fell to me to mislead and waylay the enemies that would overthrow us and steal our territory. Despite the disharmony between Giotto and me."

"Why the whole mess that you involved the Shimon in?" Sawada asked. She kept her expression carefully neutral and Daemon was grateful for that. He didn't need anyone's pity. He'd done what he'd done, knowing the consequences.

"To fulfil Elena's last wish, I swore to make Vongola the strongest Famiglia ever, a family that would make others fear to defy it. Giotto hadn't felt very threatened by a rival family invade _our_ territory, so I decided to make it really personal. And it worked. When I finally died, I decided to hang around and manipulate future bosses to carry out my vision…" Daemon trailed off.

"I probably wasn't factored in those plans." Sawada smiled sadly.

"Ottavo had been bad enough, the Family nearly torn itself apart, but a daughter of Iemitsu?" Daemon spat the name, his disgust for the idiot still as strong as ever.

"I get it now." And she did, he saw it in her eyes. "You did what you thought was best for the Family, to fulfil Elena's last wish. But Elena wouldn't have loved the Vongola you created. In your zeal to protect the weak, you never stopped to consider the opinions of those you wanted to protect. It became a cold and ruthless organisation. That's not what she would have wanted."

Daemon was fading fast and his sight was blurring. Elena's image appeared before him, as beautiful and vibrant as she had been in life, and as he tried to focus on her, she overlapped with Sawada. Their eyes were the same, he realized. The same compassion and love shone bright in their eyes. "Forgive me! I couldn't save you!" he begged, tears dripping from his eyes.

She smiled down at him, her radiance a balm to his weary soul. "I already did. You only have to forgive yourself."

He tried to focus on Sawada, narrowing his eyes to separate the two women. "I entrust you with the Vongola. Make it strong again. Strong enough to protect. Make Elena proud. Don't…Don't fail me it this."

"I won't." There was a hidden strength in her eyes, he realized. How odd he had never noticed that before.

Finally he dragged his head to look at his successor. "You…You're worthy as Guardian of the Mist. I acknowledge you. Use the Earring with pride, you deserve it. Even if you're a descendant of that knucklehead."

She, Kyoko he remembered, nodded and distractedly touched the Earring of the Mist.

As he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, he let go of the connection he'd been holding onto feverishly and faded from this plane.

* * *

Tsuna couldn't hide the tear that made its way down his cheek. Daemon's story was truly tragic and though he'd caused a lot of pain and hurt, he'd meant well. Compared to Iemitsu the man was still saint. As Tsuna wiped the tear and way and turned his face away from Kyoko and Mukuro's reunion, he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. And, lo and behold, there were the imprisoned Shimon Guardians, as well as Julie who looked exhausted and confused but mostly fine.

Seeing Enma console and reunite with his closest friends and family was heart warming. Julie looked like he needed a good talking to, beating himself up for letting Daemon control him, as did Mukuro. But they were alive and everything else would follow on its own.

When the familiar chill washed over them, Tsuna wanted to shout at them to leave them alone. This was their time. Time to celebrate and like their wounds. But he held his tongue and let the Vindice speak, hopefully for the last time in a very long while.

"Vongola. I must inform you of the end."

"The end? We won! What the f*ck are you talking about!" Hana shouted, not exercising the same self-control as Tsuna.

"Calm yourself, Storm Guardian," the Vindice chided. "You must see the Eight Key. The past between Giotto and Cozart after making their Oath."

* * *

The last memory transported them to children playing in the river and picnic set up at the side for the adults. A little girl with pigtails asked if she could have more friends. Cozart answered that she would have to wait for a little longer and a man that looked vaguely like Julie leaned in.

"Surely once the situation has cooled down, we can invite Giotto and his Guardians to our island," he remarked.

"I'm afraid that's not possible. Giotto and I will never be able to see each other again and he knows that. But we believe in each other and in our descendants, who surely will meet someday and smile together. And through them we will be reunited at last," Cozart finished, smiling through his tears.

"You gave up to much, boss," the Julie lookalike stated.

Cozart shook his head firmly. "No, I merely lost a brother, my best friend. Giotto… Giotto gave up his one true love."

The other startled. "He sure didn't act like a man in love. Did he say something?"

Cozart huffed. "He didn't need to. Not that he ever would have. He would have pined in silence, happy to simply be at my side. To scared to ever risk our friendship. But I knew, and I knew we'd never be. So I resolved to only ever see him as a friend."

His Guardian put a hand on Cozart's shoulder. "Boss…"

Cozart hushed him. "That's in the past. No need to cry over spilled milk. Let's enjoy this amazing picnic and appreciate this beautiful all right. And with that he got up from his chair and walked out into the sun.

 


End file.
